Dark Sanctum
by Jamille Shane
Summary: Rusti's old high school friend, Danica, calls in a panic. Something stalks her 14 year old niece. Can a hunter be found to save them both? Too much to the story to condense it all here, but this is how it starts out!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - I got this bee in my bonnet a couple of days ago and decided to try it out. I don't quite know where I'm going with it. If I get readers, I'll write more._

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Carpathian Series. I don't own any of the established characters from the Carpathian series. I don't profit monetarily or otherwise from the posting of this story. And I'm not in any way, shape or form trying to copy the way Ms. Feehan writes. I'm just carried away with the concept and have decided to run with it and see how far I can get just for the sake of creativity.

* * *

><p>"Rusti? Someone's on the phone for you," said Syndil.<p>

Tempest turned and frowned. How had anyone known where she was at, let alone knew what number to call? "For me?" she asked, shocked. She hadn't known enough people to even keep track of in her human life and the only two or three she cared for had no idea where she was at. She thought it was best that way, under the circumstances. She knew they wouldn't understand.

She made her way through the empty arena and suppressed laughter as she felt a breeze whip by and settle next to her. Her lifemate, Darius, materialized. "Who is this person that knows where you may be contacted?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I don't even know how they would know where to find me."

"I will take the call first."

As she gave him a 'look', "Sure you will," was all she said, deadpan.

_Vampires are wily and unpredictable. You will do this thing for me. I will ensure your protection in all things._

"Seriously, Darius, who's going to do what? And through the telephone?"

"You have a penchant for getting yourself into trouble. That, you cannot deny."

She didn't answer as she got to the back of the empty arena. She had gotten into several scrapes back when they'd first gotten together and he was determined to never let her live that down! Okay, so she had nearly died several times, but that wasn't the point!

The band members were doing sound checks for the next day's concert, setting up their equipment. Darius and Julian were checking entrance and exit routes, better ways to secure the area. It was one of the few large concerts Desari consented to give. As usual, Julian did not understand his lifemate's need to continue to entertain despite the danger. But since it made her happiness, he could do no other than ensure her happiness.

As Tempest approached the phone, a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her. And she had a feeling as to who it was waiting for her at the other end of the line.

Darius had already picked up the phone, determined to find out who it was first, but Tempest snatched it from him, fear in her chest.

###

"Danica?" came Rusti's worried voice through the phone. "What's wrong?"

She was just barely holding back tears. "Rusti!" came the relieved voice. "I don't know how I knew to call you or where…I just did." And neither of them talked about how Tempest knew it was her on the phone before even hearing her voice.

The two of them were more alike than either of them had ever discussed. Tempest had known Danica in high school. The two seemed to be naturally drawn to one another… Tempest talked to animals and Danica…just knew things, felt things, could seemingly pluck information out of the air. She was amazing. And she was great at hiding not just her abilities, but herself. But now, she was scared to death. "It's Lena," she sobbed on a whisper.

"The baby?" squealed Tempest. "What's wrong with her?"

She had one sad smile on her face as she said, "That baby is fourteen now."

Tempest remembered little Lena, Danica's niece. She had been 5 years old the last time she'd seen her. "What's the matter with her?"

Danica swallowed back her tears. "She's…she's scared to death. She won't leave the house, she's stuck to my side like glue. In the daytime she's okay, but at night she's scared. She's having nightmares. Screaming nightmares where she wakes up caked in sweat!"

Tempest remembered the little girl, how independent and full of mischief she'd been. "What do you think is wrong?" she asked as fear twisted at her.

"I don't know," she wailed. "But someone…some_thing_ is after her. She hasn't told me that, but I can tell. She only says that when she's with me it can't find her."

Danica had a natural shield and being near her seemed to be shielding Lena from…it. Tempest nodded. "You keep her there with you, all right?" She ran her fingers through her hair. "Don't let her out of the house alone or out of your sight. I'll be there within three days, all right?"

Darius knew from being merged with Tempest's mind, she was thinking that a vampire stalked the young girl. "We will find a way to send someone to her on the next rising," he said.

"Who is that?" asked Danica. "You weren't into guys back in the day. Did you finally find someone?"

"It's my husband," said Tempest with a small grin. "And you?"

"No," she said. "Um…my sister and her husband died. That's why I have Lena now."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" said Tempest with a huge frown. "That's terrible."

"So she's been with me, officially, for like four years now and…she's a good kid, Rusti. It bothers the hell out of me to see her like this!"

"Before I get there, Darius is going to talk to some people and have someone sent to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"You still in the Bronx?"

"Yeah, I am." She rattled off her address. "Hurry. I don't know how long I can protect her from…whatever this is."

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Tempest waited until she hung up the phone and forced herself not to dissolve into tears. She pressed her hands to her eyes as hard as she could, but a few slipped through anyway.

"She will be well, I promise," said Darius as he pulled her into the security of his arms. _Julian, we have need of the aid of your brethren. There is a child in danger…_

###

"What can you tell us about her?" asked Desari, later. The sun was going to rise in three hours, they could all feel the pull of the earth. But there was enough time, yet, to discuss this.

Tempest had been able to get her composure back by then and took a deep breath in and out. "Danica and I went to school together. She was…she was like me but she wasn't like me, if you know what I mean."

"No, we don't," Syndil smiled gently. "What do you mean?"

Tempest huffed out a tuft of air and smiled back at the other woman. "She could find anybody that she knew anywhere. And she just _knew _stuff. She could hide herself in plain sight, too. I never could figure out how she pulled off that trick," she laughed as the nostalgia of reliving the past washed through her. "And then I met her niece."

"How old was the child?" asked Syndil.

"The last time I saw Lena she was five years old."

Tempest was pulled back into the past for just a split second.

_Tempest entered the family home with Danica. A little girl watched them from across the room, behind a curtain. Taken off guard, the high school girl could have sworn she felt the sensation of someone pushing at her mind. Shocked, she turned and looked down, saw the big dark eyes looking up at hers. There was a smile on the child's face. The little one came out and enthusiastically put her arms around her, hugged her tight. 'You're like me and Aunt Dani,' the little mind sent into hers too easily. 'I promise, I won't tell…'_

_ Tempest was overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment with the child whose goodness and serenity seemed to seep into her. 'Thank you!' she thought with all honesty. 'Thank you.'_

"Um, Dani's sister was like almost ten years older than her, married and everything. They had Lena when Danica was about 10 or eleven, I think. She used to live with them from time to time since she had such a hard time with her parents. I was only there for high school and that's it. I moved on after that. Danica's found me twice since then. I never know how she finds me, she just does. That's what she does." She suppressed a shudder. "I've never heard her scared out of her mind like that. She's usually so calm."

"Julian, do you know anyone that can help her?" Desari said, now also worried about the child.

But all of the men in the room, Barack, Dayan, Julian and Darius were too busy thinking of human female psychics and the potential of what this could mean for about two more males of their race without lifemates. "Stop thinking of that!" Tempest shouted at Darius since she definitely knew what he was thinking, if not the others. "Danica's not just some _body_ to be converted and made into an easy-bake oven for more girls to be made for the race, Darius! I'm worried about her and I'm really worried about Lena. At least Dani can stay hidden in plain site, even to vampires, I suspect. But Lena can't. She's still just a baby, Darius!"

Darius took Tempest's hands into his own. "Tempest, you see only the child in your memory. You know nothing of the dangers that-"

"Darius, I don't want to hear it!" she snapped and then turned to Julian. "Do you know anyone, _anyone_ that can help her?"

Darius was still reeling from Tempest snapping at him so hard as Julian answered, "I will contact Gregori and perhaps the Prince. They will know who to send."

"I have to go see her, Darius. After this concert," Tempest insisted. Her face said that 'no' was not the answer she was willing to hear. He sighed tiredly in answer. He didn't want her in anymore danger.

"Well we don't have another concert for like 3 weeks. Why not?" said Desari.

Darius gave his sister a look of censure for swaying his lifemate even further and Julian gave him a 'look' in return for giving his wife that look. Both ladies looked at one another and smiled. They'd done it again.

"Great, when do we go?" asked Barack, knowing what Syndil was already thinking and also knowing how to stay in her good graces.

"I do not agree to this, Tempest," said Darius. "Your safety-"

"I'm going to see her and you're going to make sure she's okay. Even if you get a hunter to her in time, I don't _know_ that guy and how close he could be to turning. I mean, you're supposed to protect defenseless women. That's what you two do, right?" she asked looking between Darius and Julian. "What if she…" her worst fears played out in her mind. "What if she- she's just a little girl!"

Julian shrugged. "I'll go and make sure she's okay if you want me to, Rusti."

"You would put your lifemate in danger?" asked Darius knowing that wherever he went, Desari would follow.

Julian sat back casually. "I haven't seen Rusti like this in a long time. I feel badly for her. I know what it is to be worried like that for someone and not be able to see to them yourself," he said thinking of the previous years-long absence from his twin. "It hurts."

He decided, "Dayan and Barack, you don't need to come. There is no need to put your lifemates, or your child, Dayan, in danger." As expected, the two men did not question his decision. "I shall go and you may come, Julian, if you are so inclined. But I do not think Tempest nor Desari should put themselves in danger. I think we should perhaps leave them at a safe location, perhaps even with Barack and Dayan, and-"

"No," Tempest shook her head emphatically. "She's my friend and I'm going to make sure she's okay for myself. You do what you do and the women will do what the women do. Keep each other company while the men hit themselves in the chest and hurl fire and lightning at one another," she said as she playfully poked Darius' chest with her finger. He caught her hand and kissed it lightly. He would have to punish her applicably later for this public defiance. She smiled up at him in challenge. _Bring it!_

Desari couldn't suppress her grin so she coughed behind her hand and slinked behind her lifemate to giggle.

Darius had never known what it was to care or feel concern for outsiders. He had shut their group up on themselves and was responsible solely for them. They had never known the hurt of the outside world or much of any kind of hurt. He kept them all safe and protected them from the evil of fanatics and vampires alike. Until danger and hurt came for them from within their group.

The incident with Syndil and its aftermath taught him what it was to watch someone suffer and not know what to do. That determined it for him. He didn't know what the true situation was just yet, but he could never stand Tempest's censure if something happened to the girl and he didn't check up on the two females. "We will go after this concert tomorrow night. Julian, you are of course free to come."

"I'll contact Gregori and see if he knows which hunter is in the area," said Julian. "If he does not know, perhaps the Prince will."

As everyone filed out to find their respective places to sleep for the sun's rising, Desari could be heard telling Julian, "You know I'm coming, too, right?"

####

Danica looked over at her niece. She was fine now. She was always fine in broad daylight. "Lena, I have to go to the store. We're running out of food." She was grateful her job allowed her to work from home.

The teenager looked up at her aunt. "Okay. I'll go with you," she said.

She knew the girl well. She was still afraid, she was just containing it. So long as she could stay up under her aunt Dani's shoulder, she was fine.

Danica was tall and beautiful. Anyone that saw her would describe her as having obvious Eurasian features. She was the product of a Chinese mother and a Scottish father. Her eyes were almond shaped and a bold grey color. Adding to her beauty was a heavy fall of dark wavy hair that nearly reached her hips. Her skin was almost olive in tone but still very much on the fair side. She was almost as tall as her father had been, standing just under six feet. She was thin but muscular, a product of working out at the gym four to five days a week.

Lena was fourteen and still very short. Danica suspected the girl wouldn't grow past five feet tall. She was the product of Dani's now deceased sister and her husband, James.

Dani's sister, Gilena, took after their mother a lot more than Danica had. Gilena had been about five foot five with dark hair and eyes. Her hair had been very wavy, just like her sister's. The man she met and married, James, had been only an inch taller than her. He had come from a family made up of lots of lovely petite black women and not one of them had been over five feet. Because he had been so surrounded by females growing up he knew how to treat Gilena like gold. He had had an easy smile and a laidback sense of humor. It hurt her heart to think of the two of them not able to watch their child grow the way she could.

The mixture of James' black heritage with the beautiful Eurasian had produced an exotic looking child. Her features held the promise of a girl that would grow to be a very beautiful woman. But she was still at that slightly awkward stage of her teens.

Lena's petite frame already possessed most of the curves of a woman but her hips were not yet fully formed. Where her mother's hair had been wavy, Lena's was in ringlets. She kept the springy curls held back in a constant thick ponytail that reached just past her shoulders. The only thing her and her aunt had in common, as far as their looks were concerned, was the shape of their eyes. Despite the obvious difference in their appearances, they were unerringly close. She kept sharp tabs on the teenager, having just been a teenager not too long ago herself. She knew all the tricks, knew when the girl had something up her sleeve. She was almost always a very good kid, though, and her aunt usually didn't have to worry about her. Until now. And whatever this was had not happened through any fault of hers.

The two of them left the house during the full light of noon. Lena kept telling Dani it was the safest time for her to be out of the house. Just as she knew certain things, so did her niece. The teenager was a lot more comfortable with her abilities than Danica, so out of respect for her aunt's fear, the younger girl never talked openly about it unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Can we get Pop Tarts this time? Please!" she begged with her hands up, palms together in a prayerful gesture.

Dani shook her head on a laugh. "That junk. Sure, I'll get you a box. Just one box!"

"Great! I want cinnamon-" She stopped midsentence and stared. "What's that?"

Dani knew Lena had been very jumpy, of late, so didn't pay too much attention. She was busy trying to close and lock up the door to the little blue house she owned. When she finally turned around, she saw what it was the girl was staring at.

It looked like a homeless man walking the streets with a lumbering gait. He looked slightly twisted, his movements jerky. "Probably some druggie," she said dismissively so as not to alarm the girl as a shiver went up her spine. "Get in the car, now," she said as she pressed the 'open' button on her car's electronic keypad attached to her key ring.

Lena quickly opened the door and got into the car like her aunt had told her to while continuing to watch the man that looked like something that just shouldn't exist. It bothered her to consider, he looked like nothing more than animated meat. Then again, she reflected, she believed something was stalking her at night that also shouldn't exist, but it did, she knew it did!

Dani got into the car, put the key in the ignition and started the vehicle. She was grateful for the warmth of the summer sun since she wouldn't have to idle the car to warm it up.

That strange looking man was getting even closer to the car. "If I didn't know any better," said Lena, "that nigga' look like a motherfu-"

"I don't like you talking that way!" she snapped as she adjusted her mirror and then pulled the car away from the curb. She U-turned the vehicle so they could go in the direction of the supermarket.

"Okay, sorry! That nigga' look like a-"

"I don't like that word, either!"

"Okay!" she said, exasperated. "Well he looks like a zombie! A freaking Walking Dead zombie!"

Danica pulled the car around the corner and continued on her way to the supermarket as a shudder went up her back again. "Zombies don't exist, Lena."

"Yeah, and I thought _vampires_ didn't exist, either…"

The two sat in silence for a while as Dani drove. "Lena, you never told me what happened that night you came rushing into the house from dance class. You wouldn't say anything. What happened?"

Lena looked out of the window at the passing scenery and shrugged, still not wanting to talk about it. "I saw something…"

_She'd packed up her bag quickly and made it out of the studio where the rest of the girls were still talking. Something felt 'strange' to her. Anytime anything felt strange she always knew, it was time to run. Lena didn't pause to talk to her fellow class members. She ran out of the building and almost made it the three blocks home. The sun had set about an hour before and she figured she was just being silly, but just in case…_

_There were people out on the Bronx streets, as usual. Kids playing, parents sitting outside in folding chairs watching the kids play while they talked amongst themselves, men sitting at tables playing dominoes and arguing about the legality of moves, kids coming out of the bodegas eating tube ices in the evening summer heat. But for some reason, she still didn't feel safe. She picked up the pace and walked faster._

_About a block away from home, a strange feeling overtook the air. And there was suddenly no one around. She could still hear the noise from the two blocks she had just passed. And some part of her knew if she went back there, she would be endangering the lives of all those people… The evening sky had taken on an overcast hue. It hadn't been that way even five minutes before!_

_Something stepped out of the shadows and she stopped in her tracks. She went to say something, but fear had frozen her. No sound would come out._

"_I've been looking for you, __ma petite chérie__…" said the…thing. He was tall and he looked like once upon a time he had been quite something. But not anymore. His shirt and pants looked like they hadn't been washed in months, maybe more. His shoes were nearly nonexistent. And his face! The skin looked like a museum exhibit of drawn skin over shrunken heads made by tribesmen from some far off place; his hair was also in scraggly tufts. He looked more like a mummy than a man. "You are overwhelmed by my presence, are you not?" he asked, obviously believing he was projecting a much better image than what she saw._

_She found herself biting out truthfully, "__**Hells yes I'm overwhelmed**__!" Instinct moved her since her thought process wasn't able to function from fear. She was running frantically, trying to get to the other side of the street, at first grateful that there was no traffic. She couldn't help but wonder 'How in the world did this busy thoroughfare manage to have zero traffic, even at this time of night?' But as she reached the other side, the thing had used some unnatural form of speed and was already there, waiting for her at the lamppost. "Oh my goodness, mister! I have to get home like right now or I'll be in big trouble," she found herself stammering._

"_I have been attempting to locate you for quite sometime," he said, a sadistic smile forming on his face. There was the firelight of death in his eyes and his canines were exaggeratedly large. Because of the light cast by the street light, she saw it now; the blood stains on his teeth, his lower lip, his chin. Even from this far away, the smell of death permeated the atmosphere._

_Another part of herself shook its head as she heard herself babbling, "Mister, trust me, you don't want to wind up in the Pedo Papers! I'm only fourteen, nowhere near legal. I'm sure you can find someone into- whatever it is you're into, but I don't get down like that! Just check Craigslist! I heard there's freaks all over the place up in there." She felt the sweat of fear on her forehead, running down her back in draining waves. She swore she felt herself aging as she stood there, trying to work out a strategy to get away from this maniac. Running didn't seem to work. Maybe if she could reason with him-_

_He was done attempting to woo this one. "Come to me, now!" he said as his hand beckoned her to his side with a grotesquely sharp movement. "Take your rightful place as my lifemate!"_

_Although she didn't know the exact meaning of the word, she kind of knew what that meant instinctively and on the inside, she felt herself screaming. "Um…um um um…I didn't eat dinner yet. I'm hypoglycemic and I'll pass out if I don't eat dinner before I do anything else strenuous," the words poured quickly out of her mouth._

"_You no longer amuse me!" he shouted. "I will give you something to eat," he said as an even more evil expression played across his face. "Come here, NOW! And I will give you the drink of immortality." Seconds ticked by. A bit of confusion hit his features since she was not immediately walking toward him._

_She realized then that, barring some miracle, she was going to wind up being kidnapped by this obviously ancient perv. "Oh no, my ass about to wind up on a __**milk carton!**__" she sobbed to herself as she shook her head in shame._

_And then the miracle happened. The vampire turned as if shocked. A bolt of lightning from the overcast sky hit him square in the chest as he screamed. He took one last good look at her before hissing, "The hunter has come! And I shall still come for __**you**__!"_

_He took to the skies as he shapeshifted before her eyes into some huge bird she had never seen in her life. She took off in the opposite direction she had been originally going, took an alternate route home. She arrived home, hysterical, running past her aunt's concerned questions, locked herself in the bathroom and sat in the hottest shower she could stand, hugging her knees, rocking back and forth, back and forth, shivering, crying…_

"What did you see?" asked Danica again.

She tried to act as if what she were saying was completely normal. "Just a vampire." She was nauseated again and her head was starting to hurt.

* * *

><p>AN - I plan to come back with an even longer chapter, I just don't know when. I'm starting to get a feel for the direction this fic is going to take.


	3. Chapter 3

As they drove back home from the market and approached her house, Danica was disturbed. That strange looking homeless person was still loitering outside her house. She frowned. "Hey, um, we're gonna drive and park around the corner, okay?" she said to her niece, not wanting to alarm her.

The teenager shrugged as she flipped through an Ebony magazine. "Okay." She had also noticed the zombie looking man still outside the house, but didn't say anything. She had had enough of the 'strange' and had a feeling her aunt was going to park around the corner and have them go into the house via the back door. She looked at the clock on the radio on the dash. It was barely one in the afternoon. There was plenty of time before the sun set. But she still had a feeling that that thing waiting outside the house shouldn't see them getting into the house.

Dani was grateful to find a parallel parking spot on the street. Parking spaces were hard to come by in any urban area. Fortunately, she had only picked up five bags worth of groceries that day. She opened the trunk and said, "Lena, take two of these bags."

"Okay. I can take three if you want?" she said as she tried to take a third.

"No," she smiled at her. "That's too heavy."

They took the bags and quickly walked past their neighbor's house. Since they were aiming for their back door, they wouldn't have to go anywhere near the front of the house. Danica already had her keys out as they made it there. The even better thing was there was a high gate that separated the front of the house from the street. It sat parallel between their house and the one next door. You could only approach the back door from the back of the house, or if you left via the front of the house, you would have to go all the way around the house on the left side in order to get to the back door.

Even so, she made certain to be as quiet and quick as she could as she opened the door. Making sure Lena walked in first, Dani then rushed in behind her with her bags and closed the door quickly and quietly. "Don't go near the front door or the living room," she said to her niece.

The girl only nodded and then began helping to put the groceries away. Something random occurred to Lena then. Her eyes widened as she looked at her aunt. "Oh _no_!"

"What?"

"He's out there waiting until the sun sets!"

"So what? He can't get into the house."

"He's not who I'm worried about!"

"You think a vampire sent him?" she whispered as if she thought it were the most foolish thing she had ever heard. But still, there was a tremor in her voice as she said it.

Lena felt herself about to break into tears. "Something about me, I drew him here! And because of you, he couldn't find me. But because of me, he'll find us both and I'm going to get you killed and it's not _right_!"

"Lena, Lena stop," said her aunt as she forced her to sit down at the kitchen table. She immediately filled her kettle to put tea on to boil. As she turned on the gas flame, she set the full kettle onto it. "You have to calm down. You can't stay this way, scared all of the time. At least in the daytime you were fine. But now you're going to be this way in the daytime, too? You're going to give yourself heart trouble," she tried to say lightly and not show her fear.

Despite herself, Lena couldn't help but to giggle. "You sounded just like mom when you said that." And then she was fighting back tears, thinking of her mother. She had also gotten her killed by accident.

Knowing what was going through her mind, Danica turned and looked at her niece, tears sparkling in her eyes. "You stop thinking that _right now_! Do you understand? You didn't make anyone die!"

"But she was trying to get me to the hospital and-"

"No, no. Absolutely not. I'm not going to allow you to think that way. It was a traffic accident and that's all. They happen every day. This one happened to be fatal. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it."

Lena didn't say anything else, she just nodded solemnly, not wanting to argue with her aunt about this again. "Okay," she whispered.

Danica swallowed back tears. How much was her niece going to have to go through? The kettle began to whistle then. She took it off of the stove and poured two cups of herbal tea. "Drink this. It'll make you feel better."

She took the cup and saucer from her aunt. "Thanks," she whispered. But out of the corner of her eye, she watched the clock.

###

As the sun set, a heart began to beat below the rich soil of the Hudson Valley. A voice, one well-known to him, began to speak. It belonged to Gregori, _The Dark One_.

_There is a female child in deep danger from a vampire. She may very well be a psychic. I suspect the vampire himself is an ancient—_

Adriev burst from the soil, his injuries finally healed. He had made certain to feed well before going to ground, but still, he hungered. _I have done battle with this ancient twice now. I did not realize his true goal until you spoke. He is in search of a child?_ He was trying to force concern into his thoughts. But he had had no emotion for well over six hundred years, and so only the memory of concern bled through. Still he plodded on, day by day, month by month and sought out the undead to bring them to justice. It was the only thing that motivated him now. As it was, he had decided to seek the dawn right before this undead came to his attention in this, his territory. Had it not been for that, he would be dead now. He would do this last thing, protect this child for as long as it took, and then he would destroy himself while he still could. He was just shy of a thousand years and very close to turning, he could tell.

_So you are aware of this one?_

_ I have done battle with him, but we remain just out of one another's sights. I struck him a nearly fatal blow days ago. But I am aware that it was not enough. I was gravely injured, as well, and the sun was already beginning to rise. I was forced to go to ground. I rose only once the next evening to feed and then I went to ground again to finish the healing process._

_Do you have need of my assistance? Shall I come and heal you?_

_It is not necessary. I am done healing._ And he wished he could feel gratefulness toward his old teacher. But there was no feeling. Only blank thought and duty, obligation.

Gregori relayed the information sent to him by Julian Savage and then the mental pathway was cut. Adriev was one of the few who shared blood with Gregori willingly those long years ago. He had also been one of his few students. He knew the man had decided to seek the sun after this assignment. Having found his lifemate, Gregori could now feel emotion. And sadness overwhelmed him at the thought of a former student having to seek the dawn because of his lack of a lifemate.

Andriev rose into the sky and sough prey. He would feed well before attending to this child. He was already close enough to turning. He did not want to attack her because of his own hunger and the beast that crouched, waiting to take control of his life. He was definitely ready to seek the dawn. He wearied of this existence.

###

The sun began to set, but even then, Danica did not dare turn on any lights. That man still stood out there, seemingly waiting… but for what? She knew her niece had seen _something_ that night. No way would she return home that scared for something trivial. Lena was tough, but most of all she was smart and she had no illusions about taking on anything too much for her to handle. She knew when to stand her ground and when to run. The fact that she had survived whatever she had seen meant she had taken an opportunity to run. It opened up even more questions for Danica. How had her niece gotten away from whatever this thing was that was chasing her?

The girl had fallen asleep on the divan in the hallway, exhausted from her days of fear and trying to hide that fear from her aunt. But every time night fell, the fear returned, obvious to anyone near her.

Lena sat up abruptly then and stopped herself from screaming out. "What time is it? What time is it?" she whispered frantically, eyes searching the encroaching darkness.

It cut Dani up on the inside to see her like this. "It's okay. It's getting dark, but nothing's happened."

No sooner than those words left her mouth did they begin to hear an insistent pounding on the door. Before Lena could finish inhaling to scream, Danica grabbed her and pulled her off of the divan and toward the kitchen so they could make it to the back door. But then another sound intruded.

###

Andriev allowed himself to shift from mist to his physical form. One of the undead's ghouls stood outside the girl's house, a beacon to the ancient vampire that had been trying to find her for whoever knew how long. According to the information conveyed to him, this girl's aunt possessed gifts of her own, among them some form of impenetrable shield she seemed able to hide others behind if they were within a certain radius of her…for instance, about the size of the small house before him now.

This servant whom had willingly fed on the unclean blood of his master with promises of immortality was now nothing more than a mostly mindless puppet. And that puppet was attempting to kick down the surprisingly strong door of the little house.

"May I help you with something?" asked Andriev with a casual tone. His voice was compelling and beautiful, like a condensed chocolate confection that went down with extra smoothness. Because of the compulsion in that voice, the zombie-like being stopped what it was doing and looked at him. Before the puppet could act, the Carpathian male stepped forward and took the being's head off with one powerful movement.

He scooped up the thrashing body, head and all, before someone could see what was happening and took to the skies with unnatural speed. One moment her was there, the next he was gone. Using fire from the skies to first burn it, he then dumped the ashes into the Hudson. Circling back, he went to check on the child.

###

"Did you_ see_ that?" Lena said in amazement as she cautiously peeked out of the side of the curtain. They had both gone to see what was going to happen when they'd heard a beautiful voice ask 'may I help you with something?' and the assault on the door had abruptly halted.

And the two had seen everything, including the lightning fast speed of whoever that was outside. He was gone now.

Danica couldn't speak. Vampires definitely existed. She was sure of that now. And she thought that there had been one right outside her door killing off his servant who, she guessed, had failed to pick up her niece for him. And still she was speechless. But they were evil. Why did her heart break at the thought of this evil stranger leaving? Why had he left if he was after Lena?

Not too long afterward, there was a knock at the door. She looked out of the side curtain and her heart jumped in her chest. "Who is it?" whispered Lena.

"It's that guy," Dani answered.

"The one with that _voice_?" she asked with half a grin.

"Yes, that one," she hissed. Dani tried to clear her throat and summoned up cheap vampire lore in her mind. If she didn't invite him, he couldn't come in! "Who is it?" she asked.

"I am Andriev. I've been sent for your protection."

Danica snorted. Boy did he sound arrogant! "Yeah, right. I don't open this door for just anybody, buddy!"

"A wise precaution. However, I have been sent by Darius and Rusti and I think they would not appreciate-"

She turned on the porch light quickly, unlatched the two locks and then disengaged the chain lock. Opening the door, as soon as she looked up at his face, she felt like she was pretty close to passing right out.

This Andriev was just…unnatural. _No one should be that fine!_ Danica found herself thinking.

His face was a sculpted work of art with a very aristocratic look about his brow. But his mouth was sinfully beautiful and was looked to be just too kissable. His hair was very blond and his eyes were an intense blue that sucked her in. She felt something like a punch to her chest as she stared up at the impossibly tall male. Words wouldn't come out of her mouth. All she knew was she had never in her life been attracted to anyone, especially not a man, and this one came along and all he did was fill up her doorway with his hulking frame and she wanted to step into his arms. It made her nervous. And why did she get the impression that he could do literally anything? Most scary of all, why did she feel like she already knew him? That was impossible. Not only did she never forget a face, but there was no way she would ever have forgotten this face, that voice…this man.

Andriev found himself overwhelmed with a wave of emotion. He was able to see the grayness of the eyes of the woman who stood before him. He saw her delicately shaped eyes, her small waist, and her lovely river of hair pulled up into a loose messy bun. She was beautiful, this woman, _his lifemate!_ He stepped forward as he was unable to keep a smile off of his face, his hand extended. "Now that I see you with my own eyes, I will introduce myself again. I am Andriev Lupov."

She found herself stammering, "Oh…oh oh, um…Danica. I'm Danica." She looked him up and down and wondered, where in the world did this man shop? Was that shirt silk? And was his hair in a braid down his back? How long was his hair? She took the hand he extended, expected to just shake it. But a new shiver ran down her back as he lifted it to his lips. Watching her the entire time, he slowly brought her hand to his lips and kissed lightly. "Charmed," he nearly whispered. He had to refrain from licking the back of her hand, the instinct was so strong. The beast within him screamed for release, wanted to claim his mate-

But his attention was drawn by a slight bit of movement behind his lifemate. A young girl significantly shorter than both of them with her arms crossed over her chest and a knowing grin was standing there, just watching, trying not to laugh. "You must be the little one I was sent to protect," he said in greeting to her. "You are Danica's niece, Lena?" He could smell the similarities in their blood, see they resembled one another, although loosely. And since she was in his lifemate's care, this little one was now his little one as well.

"Yes, I'm Lena," she said introducing herself with a grin. She hadn't missed the fireworks between her aunt and this too good looking stranger.

He looked her up and down, turned to her aunt and proceeded to decree, "The child is not wearing enough clothing."

Lena's mouth dropped open as Danica quickly whipped her hand out of his. "Excuse _you_?"

It was the first time in… well, ever, her aunt looked interested in anyone. And the last thing she wanted to do was have the guy get tossed out because of her. "It's okay!" Lena said, trying to be a peacekeeper. "I'll put on more clothes."

"She is wise," said Andriev to Danica as if it were nothing.

Danica looked over at Lena whom was about to walk out of the room. "You! Stay!" She looked up at Andriev. "You! In my kitchen, right _now_!"

She made certain to look all the locks on the door and then stormed into the kitchen. The big hulking male followed behind her a little too closely. "Look," she said as she whipped around. He was standing a little too closely, practically in her face. But she liked it. And that annoyed her. "She is _my_ niece,_ I_ am her guardian and_ I_ say what she can and cannot wear in MY house, do you understand that?"

He only found himself delighting in every nuance of every expression that crossed her face, reveled in her anger at him. "You are most lovely when your face colors up," he said as he watched her continually changing expression as if he lived for every movement.

She exhaled almost tiredly. "Look, you freak, I don't know what your angle is and I don't care if you're a big, bad vampire-"

He found himself laughing against his will. It felt so good to laugh! He hadn't done that in so long. "I am no vampire, my Danica."

Her stomach clenched with arousal hearing him say 'my Danica', but she refused to show it. "Whatever you are, you do not get to dictate what the women in this house wear."

He most certainly did not agree! But he decided now was not the time to fight this. He was too busy reveling in the fact that she did not protest him referring to her as his. "You are, of course, correct. She is your child and I will not dictate her clothing choices."

Why did she think she detected the word 'yet' about to leave his mouth?

###

The three sat down around the kitchen table not too long afterward and listened to what Andriev had to say. "I was sent by Gregori whom was sent a message via Julian who is in close company with Darius and Rusti."

She frowned. "So a friend of a friend of my friend sent you?" she asked, even more annoyed. "Where is Rusti now, anyway?"

"No. In actuality, Julian is a former protégé of Gregori, as am I. And Julian is brother-in-law to Darius whom is lifemate to Rusti. She should be here tomorrow evening."

Something in her warmed over at the word 'lifemate'. She couldn't help but detect a gleam in his eyes when he said the word. "Lifemate?"

Lena sucked in a breath of air, terrified. "That's what the vampire said to me! He said for me to join him as his lifemate. What in the hell does that-"

"Your language!" both adults said at the same time.

Sheepishly, the girl finished, "What is that? What does that mean?"

Danica was giving him a nasty look, again, for saying something to her niece, but she didn't speak at that time. He instead answered, "Little one, a lifemate is more than a marriage mate. You remain with them for all time. And it is only them forever. In this life and the next. They are the second half of your soul, for a man the woman is a light to his darkness."

Lena frowned as she mumbled to herself, "Yeah, he was darkness, all right. The prince of darkness."

Andriev found himself honestly laughing at an intentional joke for the first time in over six hundred years. "She is a jewel," he said to his Danica. "We will find a way to keep her safe."

"Well I've been doing just fine, thank you very much," said Danica angrily.

"Yes," said Andriev. "Your innate shield is very strong. I suspect if you did not want to be found you never could be."

She just gave him a serious screw face and shook her head. He didn't even seem to notice he was pissing her off.

"Could you excuse us, Mr. Lupov?" said Lena.

"You may call me 'Uncle Andriev'," he said, just to see the lovely expression of anger cross Danica's face. He was rewarded by her sharp intake of breath as she pointed a very rude finger at him and then at the archway, in effect telling him to 'get out'.

He stood and left the kitchen, allowing her to feel the full flame of anger toward him. As soon as he was gone, he couldn't help it. He listened in on their conversation.

"Aunt Dani, am I a good kid?" asked Lena delicately.

"Of course you are!" she said with a grin. "Where'd this come from?"

She sighed and sounded way too old as she said, "Look, the man is fine. Don't fight it. And I hate to say this, but you could do a whole lot worse than him."

Her eyes grew as she said to the child in disbelief, "What are you _talking_ about?"

"I have like never seen you go on a real live actual date. Like a _date_ date. Ever."

Danica folded her arms. "So?"

"So if there's a guy you're actually interested in-"

"Look, we still haven't established if he's a vampire!" she protested.

Lena looked toward the doorway. "Okay, you're right. But I don't think he's an actual real vampire…I think he could be one if he wanted to be."

"Oh, that makes no sense!"

"No, it doesn't make sense to me either, okay! I just don't want you to stay lonely like for_ever_."

Her aunt paused. "Do you think I'm not dating because of you?"

Lena sat back in her chair as her foot idly kicked at the kitchen table leg a little too carelessly. "Yeah, maybe like a little I was thinking that."

"Why would you think that?" asked Danica, horrified. She was realizing more and more that her niece was a walking jumble of guilt. "I don't go out on dates because-" Words, in that moment, failed her.

"Aunt Dani, come on. You're young and single and beautiful, like supermodel gorgeous. It makes no sense! I see all the men on the block check out your stuff when you walk by. I refuse to believe they weren't banging your door down before I showed up. Then you got a kid and I'm cramping your style and-"

Danica found herself laughing out loud. Even when she didn't mean to be, her niece was a riot. "Girl, there's something you should know." She looked into the dark and still innocent eyes of her very street-smart niece. "I'm not attracted to men."

She cocked her head to the side, trying to understand. "You're saying you're a lesbian?"

"No! I'm not attracted to women, either, I just... I _like_ men, but I've never been attracted to any one man in particular until-"

"Until?" her niece said with a growing grin.

"You're too young for us to be having this conversation."

"Come on. You were going to say 'until that guy showed up tonight'! I saw your face! You turned red, like for real _red_ red when you opened the door and saw him!"

"Lena!" she warned.

"Okay, okay, no more teasing. But just promise me something, okay?"

She sighed. "What?"

"If he, you know, makes a move on you or whatever, don't just turn him down. If you actually really like him, don't think that just because you have custody of me your life is like supposed to be over or something."

Danica hugged her niece. "Thank you for your permission, Lena."

She looked up at her. "But I think Uncle Andriev has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

"Get out of here before I spank you!"

Lena got up, laughing. "That means 'go to bed'?"

"Go get your shower and into your pajamas. It's almost ten o'clock. You can watch TV after that in your room."

"Okay," she said. As she passed through the living room, she couldn't resist saying to the muscular huge man standing there, "Good-night, Uncle Andriev."

"A very good night to you, Lena," he returned.

Danica just stood in the doorway halfway seething and halfway turned on.

He turned, his eyes turning warm as he looked the gift up and down that had been dropped into his lap. "She approves of me," he said, digging the jab in even further.

_A/N - I would really appreciate some reviews on this so I can gauge the pulse of the readers of this story. I'm not used to doing 'book fanfic' and I'm going out on a very uncertain limb right now. Feedback is the only payment fanfic authors get, so just drop a literary coin in my review box if you'd be so kind._


	4. Chapter 4

Danica's mind was buzzing. She sent her niece to bed but it now left her alone with this person. Whoever he was. And why did she keep getting the distinct impression that she _knew_ him? "Have I seen you somewhere before?" she found herself asking. Had she have given herself enough time to think first she might have kept the question to herself.

He was unable to resist the almost taunting words, "Perhaps in your dreams?"

She was laughing by then and wondered why. Usually she would put someone out of her house for such blatant arrogance, but she found she couldn't be so cold with this man. "Oh, puh-leaze!" she said as she went and sat down on her couch. "Now would you mind telling me what's really going on here?"

Sitting down directly next to her, he accepted that this was as far as things could go, just for now. He wanted very much on a cellular level to inhale every aspect of her being, merging her with him. When she attempted to move away, he shackled her to his side by pulling her even closer. "You know you do not truly want to leave my side," he said a little too casually.

Incensed by what she saw as a narcissistic know-it-all, Dani pried herself away from his grasp and pointedly moved to the other side of the couch. As she moved away from him another part of her betrayed her and wanted to return to his embrace. She ignored the feeling by going forward with the conversation. "I have a lot of questions and you're going to answer them for me."

He looked at the clock and then pointed it out to her. "Are you certain it is not also _your_ bedtime? I would be happy to oblige you by tucking you in," he teased, only halfway straight-faced. His eyes took on a scary visage of dancing firelight for a split second and then a wolfish smile was on his lips.

She was struck with a case of instant lust. _Looks like he wants to eat me up- Why did I have to think that?_ She looked away from him and absently ran her hands over her messy bun. What had she been saying before? This man was too distracting! She couldn't wait until all of this was over so she could never see him again! She remembered what she had been trying to say before. "Oh, yeah. So tell me, what is going on?"

"With?"

She forced calm into herself and confided, "A week ago the thought of something like vampires was the most ridiculous thing to me. Now you and my niece say they not only exist, but one is _after_ her? And I know I didn't see it with my own eyes, and I guess everyone would call me nuts, too, but I actually _believe_ her! Something like that must be dangerous and deadly. But she still got away from him? How did she get away from him?" She looked honestly worried. "She still won't tell me what happened to her that night. What if he-" She couldn't get the words out. "I didn't see any marks on her, though!"

He was serious then and watched as her lovely almost silver eyes saddened and her mouth frowned, heard her heart speed up at the thought of something coming after the child that was now hers. He wanted to not only soothe her fears but he also wished to protect the young life that was now, by extension, in his care. "Please do not worry. Little Lena was not touched. She will remain untouched."

"How do you know that?" she asked, worry stuck to her like a second skin.

"I have been a hunter of his kind for quite sometime. Not as long as some, but for quite long enough. As a result, I have certain abilities where they are concerned and I can tell when they have left their mark on their prey."

She shook her head, still confused. "Maybe you should start from the beginning? Because I thought you most certainly _were_ a vampire. Then Lena comes out with this weird theory that you aren't but you could be one if you wanted to? What's up with that? She doesn't even know why she thinks that, she just does."

He nodded. "Yes, I am not surprised she came to that conclusion. The child is gifted. You, as well."

She brushed off his comment. "Okay, yeah, sure."

He saw then that she was not at all comfortable with her abilities. "The girl is fine with who she happens to be. You are not?"

Danica shrugged. "The poor girl's had to accept a lot in her short life. Because of that she takes things as they are without question. She does a better job in that department than I do, anyway. And kids are just resilient that way, you know? They still have one foot in the magic of childhood and can accept next to anything as fact."

He could attest to that. Everywhere he went children seemed to bounce back faster from trauma than the adults around them. But it often caught up with them in their adult years. "I agree. She is fine for now. As to myself and what I am-"

Dani sat waiting for him to speak. But he seemed to be taking forever, trying to decide what and how much he should tell her. "You can trust me," she found herself whispering. She sensed his sudden ambivalence not even realizing she was moving toward him to assuage his uncertainty. "I think you're arrogant as hell but I know you mean well for Lena. I don't know how I know that, but I do." She went out on a limb. "There is something extra I know about you, but I don't know what that is. Who or what are you? Why do I feel like I've met you before? And why do I feel like you're not-" She couldn't finish the thought. _Not Human._ No, it was stupid! How could he not be?

Andriev decided to start out slowly. "Your suspicion is correct. I am not human, my Danica," he confirmed her unspoken thought as his eyes devoured hers. "I never was."

She tried not to acknowledge in her mind how much she liked the feel of his gaze sliding over her, touching every place she suspected she wanted his hands to travel. But she was most certainly puzzled over his words. "But you're not a vampire either?"

"No. I am a Carpathian. My race and yours, along with several others, have survived on this planet for many years."

"More than just ours?" she asked, only halfway shocked. But even as she thought about it, it made sense. If there was another race coexisting on this planet, why not one or two more? Why not even more than that? Her mind was beginning to ache with the expanding thoughts.

"Yes. We have all kept silent and hidden from the human world. We are outnumbered substantially and you must admit that the human tendency is to destroy that which they do not understand."

She sighed tiredly. "Yes, it's true. That's why I never talk about my…my abilities." She shook her head. "It's hard to be different. I know that for a fact."

"We call ourselves 'Carpathians' for we come from that region of your planet. We are long-lived but our penalty is that we do not live in the light of the sun as you do. We are terribly allergic to that form of radiation. In small doses it causes stark discomfort. But full exposure leads to death."

Her mind was spinning with question after question and she didn't know where to start first. But she latched on eagerly to the subject. "Oh! Well first, how old are _you_?" she asked, eyes wide, not believing she truly believed him and his story. But she did.

He found himself smiling down into her face full of wonder and wanted to kiss her lips. "It is not important for you to know at this time."

She regarded him with a cautious face as she wondered how it was he had wound up next to her on the couch again. She just barely suppressed a tremor that went through her body. "I know what that means. That means if I found out I might wind up in an old-fashioned swoon."

They both laughed as he admitted, "Yes, that is true."

She shook her head again, her laughter gone. "All right, fine, you can tell me that later. So where do vampires come from if you're not a vampire?"

He seemed to sadden then, but his eyes continued to hold hers. "I must explain it this way. The people of our race are not as humans. For us, when a male is born, he is born incomplete. Only his lifemate may complete the other half of his soul. During his wait for her it is not difficult for the first two hundred years. For some, they still remain 'themselves' for up to three hundred years. There are those rare males that have even made it to their 400th year without any true changes. But it is inevitable. It always strikes."

"It?"

His hand reached out tentatively and touched her fingers. It was, at first, only a light brush of contact via the tips of his fingers. He promised himself that he would only touch her that once for the night. But the feel of her flesh, the spark of beautiful warmth and heat, the small radiating fire that blossomed from such a light touch! So many sensations, he had trouble sorting them all out; he found he could not stop with the small bit of contact. He reached out, took her right hand in his fully and began to knead it continually between his large hands. "The colors and emotions begin to fade from their lives with the passage of time," he answered.

Andriev swallowed back uncertainty. With the feeling of even this small bit of physical contact, he knew he would never be able to let her go again. Would she suffer due to the presence of him in her life? "To know no joy, no happiness, not even true sorrow; to see only in black, white…shades of bleak grey. There is no more feeling, only the strict impression of duty and whatever path they have set for themselves until they come across she who is their other half. In the meantime darkness spreads across our souls. The loneliness and a state akin to deep depression envelopes who and what we once were. And it is at this time that we find ourselves at our most vulnerable, the darkness in our nature waiting to betray us and lead us down the path to becoming the undead. It would tempt us to kill while we feed simply for the momentary rush of the feeling of power from adrenaline laced blood."

"So you drink-" She couldn't find it in herself to finish the sentence.

"Yes, we do," he admitted. Then he looked into her eyes again. He would not hide what he was. "I do."

She yanked her hand out of his and stood quickly. Putting space between the two of them, she told herself she didn't care how good his touch felt, there were some things to establish from the get-go! "Let's set this straight right now. You're not getting anything off of, or_ out_ of, me or the kid without my express permission. Is that clear?"

"You are both under my protection. You must understand I would _never _take from the child, or in fact any child, for sustenance. She is very young and in great need of what she contains," he said as he practically glided off of the couch, muscles rippling beneath the silk of his shirt as he advanced upon her position.

How did Andriev wind up this close to her and that fast? Danica found herself unable to breathe as he drew closer, still. Her body responded to his and she was more than just slightly annoyed by that. "So, um, this lifemate person," she said as she backed away from him. Her back came up against the wall and she had no place else to go. "Wouldn't yours be jealous if she saw you standing here talking with me like this?" Even as she said it, she knew whoever the woman was she was intensely jealous of her!

He sensed her thoughts and found himself smiling. "I did not have one until tonight," he said as he continued to advance upon her. His eyes gleamed as he took in her position, trapped, back still to the wall.

She found herself giggling up into his face. "You're joking!"

"When it comes to this subject, I do not jest," he said as his eyes took in the loveliness of her long eyelashes, the fullness of her lips, they beckoned to him; the smell of her skin and the blood surging through her veins.

Dani frowned. "I get the impression you're kind of…_old_. Um, I thought you said after a while you all don't feel or see in color until you find this lifemate person. But yet you laughed at what I said, laughed at Lena's joke. I guess you're not that old after all?"

"Yes, I am. Until this night, I did not have a lifemate. I have felt no emotion, have seen no colors for nearly 600 years," Andriev's eyes surveyed hers with undisguised wonder, "-until tonight."

His meaning began to sink in as the two stood there, looking into one another's eyes. He seemed to be staring at the best gift a man could ever receive as he looked down at her with tenderness and heat paired together. Her insides clenched hotly and she felt herself wanting to fall into his arms. She forced the palms of her hands along the wall, trying to reconnect her senses to something else other than him. She concentrated on the smooth yet rough textured feel of the wall beneath her fingers. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "Oh, no, you don't understand! See, I can't _do_ that because-" She shook her head worriedly. "There's been a mistake or something. You have to pick someone else," she insisted.

He stalked even further into her space, placed his body very close to hers, his forearms flat on the wall, his chest almost touching hers effectively trapping her. "You did not fully understand what I meant when I said that there is only one female for the male. And we do not choose her. She is chosen from before we are both born." His face ducked into hers, forced her eyes back to his. "You are mine. I have been waiting for you for centuries."

She tried to distract him from his caveman campaign. "So you mean to tell me when you came here to check up on us you didn't know I was here?"

"How could I have known?"

She looked confused. "You really didn't know? Well how long have you been searching?"

"One stops counting after a couple of centuries-"

"All right!" Danica said as she pushed off of the wall and ducked under his arms, escaping. "Too much information!" She found herself pacing. "Centuries," she whispered to herself. "He said '_centuries_'!" It dawned on her then. "So you mean you haven't felt anything for years and years and then tonight-"

"Tonight, I saw your face. I heard your voice," Andriev spoke as he couldn't help the sudden rush of euphoria. He walked into her space again and this time pulled her fully into his arms as the words rushed out of him, "And I feel! I see color again! I am overjoyed at the wonder of it all." He pulled back from her enough to point, "Even that hideous painting on the wall, I am overjoyed even at that, to see every nuance of badly chosen color!"

She sucked in her breath, horrified for another reason. "That was a $400 painting!"

"You have been, what is the expression? 'Ripped off'?"

She found herself smacking at his chest not at all playfully, wondering why she hadn't pushed him away again. "Oh, whatever. What can you possibly know?"

He smiled down at her still in his arms. "Yes, what can I know? I only lived through the height of the Italian Renaissance…in _Italia_. Yes, what can I know?"

She gave him a face and murmured, "Showoff," under her breath. "Well, whatever." She disentangled herself from his grasp and went to sit back on the couch. Like a magnet, he followed, sat next to her again. Danica grew exasperated. "Will you stop following me!"

"Do not lead and I shall not follow."

"What the heck does _that _mean?"

"If you would simply stop moving, _la mia stella_, I would not have to follow."

She had a feeling this was just going to go around in circles and decided to try to move the conversation along. "Fine, then. Is this vampire going to keep coming after my niece? Because I can't have that."

"He is most likely still healing from his wounds. He sent the ghoul, most likely, to track her down and pick her up, but he has most certainly noticed by now that she has not been brought to him. He will likely arrive tomorrow or the day after that to try and track her down for himself."

"Arrive!" she asked, horrified. "Tomorrow?"

"I will attempt to draw him out if he does not manifest himself by then. Since his ghoul has not returned he has probably realized the hunter that caused him to have to go to ground has killed his minion and is still on his path. He will most likely not show his face, then. He will figure to wait until I leave the area and then search for the child again. One such as her, such as yourself, that is quite rare. He will not give up the search."

"Draw him out?" she asked, suddenly worried for him. But why should she care? Something told her this man was nothing but danger and trouble. She didn't want to care about him, but she did.

"Do not worry, _cara mia_," he said, sensing her concern. "I have been doing this for five hundred years."

She jumped back and away from him again. "This isn't natural," she found herself saying so as not to get attached to this man. "Okay, um, I'll pretend I didn't just hear that. What does he want with my niece?"

Andriev sighed. Once again, he wondered, how much should he tell her?

She knew what he was concerned about. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I can handle it."

"You cannot even handle the subject of my age," he halfway teased.

"Go on. If it's for Lena, I have to be strong for her."

"When my land was ravaged by brutal wars and bloodshed, the opposing armies did not stop at simply men and soldiers. They killed our women and our children, human and Carpathian alike. The humans recovered their numbers after a time. But our race…we are so long-lived, another penalty is only being able to bear one child every century and even then it is no guarantee that that child will live past five years of age, even past one year is difficult. After the almost destruction our homeland, our women and children were all but wiped out. And we have been unable to recover since then. As it was, only perhaps one in every four births was female. But after the wars, we saw no females born for quite sometime. Only a few males here and there."

She looked honestly alarmed. "But that means that there was no one for the men to-"

"Yes, no one to anchor them. No hope. And with no hope, there was a bumper crop of males making three crucial decisions: To seek the dawn, to turn vampire or to hunt the vampire."

"And you've been a hunter, trapped in this craziness, for five hundred years?" she asked, truly horrified for him.

"There are those who have hunted twice, three times as long as I have. But it appears I am nowhere as strong as they happened to be."

Her face paled and she was overwhelmed by a strange sense of loss. "What does that mean?"

Andriev couldn't believe he found himself admitting this, but he said, "The call to turn was becoming stronger. And I decided, after I sought after the child, made certain she was safe and unharmed, I was going to seek the dawn and destroy myself rather than allow myself to kill during feeding or to feed while making a kill. It was close at my heels, my love, I can admit that now."

She felt numbness on the edges of her fingertips and toes and a disorienting dizziness was threatening to bring her down. "But you don't have to now?" she wanted to make certain. She didn't know exactly what it was she wanted from him, but she knew down to the core of her being, she needed him to live!

He smiled at her, watching the minutest details of her expression. "No, I do not have to now."

She swallowed her nerves. Somewhere in all this, she had the feeling that something unpleasant was going to come up. "So what does this have to do with the fact that this thing called my niece his lifemate? Is he really? What would that mean if he were? Would she be the one to bring him back from that terrible state?"

"He is not her lifemate," said Andriev with full assurance.

"And how do you know that?"

"He has turned. It is too late for him. Whoever she is or will be, he has doomed her to a life of loneliness and perhaps a substandard relationship where she settles for less than what should have been him."

"And how do you know that that wasn't my Lena?" she asked, horrified.

He swallowed back troubling thoughts and memories. "I know."

"But I'm not Carpathian. Neither is Lena. We're human! Right?" Danica asked. "I mean, wouldn't I know it if I weren't human?"

"Yes, you are very much human," he reassured her. But he wondered for how much longer. "There is, however, a conversion process that-" And she was up and off the couch, not just across the room, but across the house, in the kitchen, hiding on the other side of her refrigerator. He was even shocked at how quickly she had flown away from him. He stood and forced himself to move at a regular pace as he walked into her kitchen and kept himself just at the other side of it. "Danica, this conversation- you assured me you could take it for the sake of the child."

She swallowed back her fear. "You're not going to try to convert one or both of us, are you?"

"The child's decisions are her own when she grows to maturity. As for you, my love, it is entirely your decision as well. But you decide for both of us what you shall do next."

"Both of us?" she asked, horrified.

He swallowed back the beginnings of sweat beads threatening to pour from his forehead. "It has been at great cost to myself that I have done none of the things that are instinctual for me upon meeting you. I have not and I shall not convert you without your permission. But I also have not recited the ritual words to bind your soul to mine. It is a state akin to agony to continue to be with you and not say the words."

She was reeling from too much information and asked, "Well if I don't convert, what do you mean I choose for both of us?"

He paused. "We will not speak of that at this time. For now know that if I speak the words we will be bound together and we will be unable to be apart from one another. I understand your need to digest this information first, to, as it were, sleep on it. It is why I shall go no further tonight in deed or word."

"Good. Because I don't want to talk about any of this anymore…not right now, okay? Tomorrow? We can talk about it some more tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is," he reassured her.

"And Rusti?"

"She should be here perhaps the day after tomorrow with her lifemate Darius."

She frowned as she walked around the refrigerator and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. "Are you telling me she's been…converted?" She didn't say it aloud, but her friend's voice had sounded markedly different on the phone. She knew it had for a fact been her, but something had changed substantially in her voice.

He took her hand in his and began kneading her flesh again. He attempted to infuse calm into her via his actions and words, tried to add a mental 'push'. "Yes, but there is no need for you to-"

"Don't DO that!" she said as she yanked her hand out of his.

He knew she was not referring to his massaging of her hand. He should have known a mind as powerful as hers would be able to tell what he was doing. "I only wished for you not to be so panicked about this situation, Danica. That is all. Please, believe me, I will try my best not to speak the words with you until you are ready. But I am fighting every instinct I possess, you must know that."

"I said I don't want to talk about that anymore!" she charged angrily.

Andriev hung his head as if in surrender. "I apologize, my love."

"And I'm not your_ love_!"

He didn't answer, he simply stood there as he looked into her eyes again. A slow sizzling smile gradually overtook his face. Gorgeous teeth and beautiful lips caused her to get trapped in that smile and she instantly wanted to strangle him or herself…perhaps both of them at the same time.

"I have to go to bed," she said, offhand, attempting to get out of the kitchen unscathed.

"If you have need of assistance-"

"Try it, buddy, and you'll be wearing your thumbs on the back of your head!"

"Oooh," he said with a very pouty expression and then bit his lower lip lightly. "You threaten very well, my love."

"You better stay away from my room," she charged, one threatening finger pointed at him.

"I mean nothing but safety for you and for the child."

She believed him. But some other part of her knew what it really was he wanted from her personally. Because she wanted it from him, too, and that disturbed her and it was not just physical in nature, either. "What are you going to do while I go to bed?"

"I will scan the area and remain vigilant through the night."

Danica thought of the effect of the sun's rays upon him and felt worry despite not wanting to be. "Where will you go in the morning, Andriev?"

He loved the sound of his name as it left her lips. She did not pronounce it at all correctly, she pronounced the 'r' much harder than it should have been and he found it adorable! "Do not worry, my love, I will seek shelter before then. I will return to you tomorrow evening."

Danica still didn't understand the feelings traveling through her at his words and retreated from him as quickly as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

Even after having gone to bed, Danica's mind remained restless for quite some time. She was trying not to, but found herself wondering: What was Andriev doing at that very moment?

_ At __**this**__ very moment? _His voice slipped effortlessly into her mind. And there was a smile on his face, she could just feel it. _I am currently making certain no one has detected the child._

She sat up in bed, more than alarmed. No one had ever done that with her without touching her directly, not Rusti, not even her niece! She suspected even if Lena could the girl still wouldn't do it. Realizing she was very flipped out at that moment, her heart continued racing as she quickly looked around her room and expected him to walk out of any corner of any shadow at any moment.

Dani could barely take the strangeness that was Andriev, the ease with which he'd spoken to her in _that_ way. She forced breath in and out of her lungs, concentrated on regulating her breathing, willed her heart to stop racing.

Hesitant to answer the man she found herself involuntarily attracted to, something about him still beckoned. This form of communication, it felt too intimate, but it still felt right. _How can you even speak to me this way?_

She sensed his insufferable masculine laughter in her mind and that at least distracted her enough as she scowled at his reaction. _After the discussion we have had, you find amazement in this very simple thing I am capable of?_

Dani rolled her eyes. _I'm rolling my eyes at your arrogance, once again, Andriev._

_ I wish I could be there to see it for myself. You are wonderfully adorable when you do that!_

She felt a blush stealing up her neck and into her face as she fell back into bed and threw a pillow over her head. She knew it wouldn't block out the sound of his thoughts, but she figured she would try anyway.

He then seemed detached, distracted. _The child is having a nightmare…_ he informed her quickly.

She was up like a flash in the night, throwing the covers off of herself and bounding out of bed as fast as possible. Heading up the hallway, she went straight for Lena's room. It didn't occur to her to question how Andriev knew her niece was having some kind of trouble in her sleep. Danica opened the girl's door and walked right into her room. At first it seemed she was fine, but within three seconds she saw her beginning to frown and whimper, eyes stilled closed. "No. Don't touch me," she said, her voice sounding too many years younger than the age she happened to be as her head thrashed left and right.

_Can he get to her in her sleep?_ asked Danica on a rush as she dashed over to Lena's bed.

_He shouldn't be able to touch her with your shield protecting her. Only if he has taken her blood, which I detect he has not._

"Hey, hey, Lena," whispered Dani as she sat on the side of her bed and gently touched her shoulder.

The girl sat up ramrod straight, inhaled a sharp breath of air as if she hadn't been breathing before and, eyes still closed, let out a bloodcurdling scream while her hands began to smack at the arm nearest her.

"Open your eyes! It's me, Lena!" she found herself saying at least three times. "Lena!"

The girl's eyes finally opened and after a short time she was able to focus on the face in front of her. Lena's screams abruptly stopped when she realized it was her aunt sitting with her. The teenager dropped her face into her hands as she realized she was shaking almost violently. "I'm sorry, Dani," she practically whispered as her voice wavered. She tried to sound casual though there was a tearful quality to her voice. "Was I making a lot of noise?"

"I don't care about that!" Danica said truthfully. "What were you dreaming about?"

The girl simply sat there, not answering, eyes as large as saucers as she tried to process the change from the dream world to the real one.

"Was it the vampire?" Dani whispered, as if she were afraid he could hear.

Lena shook her head quickly and gulped down a couple of breaths of air. "No. Not this time."

Danica sensed she was telling the truth. So she was confused. If the nightmare wasn't about the thing chasing her- "Then what?"

The girl shrugged and looked away from her aunt as the shakes began to set in. "I just- I don't want to talk about it. Not right now, okay? I'm cold."

She sighed almost tiredly. "Is there something you haven't been telling me?" The girl had been having nightmares for as long as she had custody of her. She always thought they stemmed from the accident and the death of her parents. And then the incident with the vampire happened and the nightmares hitched up a notch, often leaving the girl screaming, shivering and sweat-soaked. Danica was only beginning to realize there was so much more going on here.

The teenager continued to look away from her aunt. "I'm better now. Can I go back to sleep?" her voice still wavered as she pulled the covers up and around to hug herself.

_She must tell you!_

_ What do you know, Andriev? What can you see?_

_ I cannot see what it is. But it is something in the child's past. It has damaged her._

And then she knew what it was. "When you went into foster care for those months before they let me have you-"

"I said I don't want to _talk_ about it!" Lena shouted. Her face crumpled into instant tears. "I'm sorry I yelled," she said immediately. "I shouldn't do that, right? Especially not to you."

Her aunt was already hugging her, understanding already. "We can talk about it in the morning."

"We really don't have to," said Lena as she emphatically shook her head.

"Yes, we do. You know we do."

She shook her head again. "I won't make anymore noise, I promise. I just don't want to talk about it, all right? Not now, okay? Later. Just later. I can't take it, not right now, okay? Just too much is happening and…not right now."

Danica looked at her face and didn't feel right pressing her to tell her. "All right. For now. But we _will_ talk about this eventually."

That seemed to be enough for the girl. "Okay. Later. We'll talk about it later."

"Lie down," she said as she made her lie back in bed.

_May I help the child sleep?_

_ You'll probably scare her to death if you start talking to her in her head out of nowhere!_

"Are you talking to Uncle Andriev?" asked the teenager with a knowing grin as her aunt tucked her in.

Dani gasped. "How did you know?"

She lowered her voice as if delivering it in a whisper would soften the blow. "It's like- like electricity or something, I don't know how else to say it. When people use it, I can feel it. That's all. It's just a transmission, like- like radios! That's it! And most people that have it don't even realize it. I felt it go off when you spoke to him."

"How did you know it was Andriev, though?"

"Who else would you be speaking with that way at like, what, midnight?" smiled her niece. "I'd talk to a hottie in my head if _I_ could every night."

"All right, smarty-pants. He wanted to know if you needed help sleeping."  
>"No, I should be okay," she shrugged. "Go back to talking to him. Get your play on."<p>

She saw her niece was still busy trying to match-make despite the horror story her life was turning into. "You're remarkable, do you know that?"

Lena found herself blushing, not knowing what to say back, so she just gave her aunt a shy toothy grin, fully back to herself then.

Danica stood and went to Lena's dresser. She pulled a mixed CD out of a case and put it into the CD player and turned it on. She had put together soothing tracks for nighttime a while back to help Lena's insomnia. Now she saw why it existed. She looked back at the girl and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and outrage. _Someone touched her when she was in foster care… I know that's what it is. She was only ten, Andriev! What kind of animal does that kind of thing?_

_We will help her._

_ We? Who is this 'we'?_ She walked out of the room, but left the door open so she could listen out for her niece. _I don't remember you signing on the dotted line to be her guardian._

_ You are my lifemate. She is your child and she is under my protection, as well. And you cannot dispute, the child has already claimed me as her uncle. I cannot disappoint her. She is badly in need of a father-figure and male, as well as female, protector._

Danica went to tidy her bed again before getting back into it. _Why do you care about children so much, anyway?_ She could detect his broad overall care for all minors.

His heart warmed. He noticed she was no longer fighting the fact that she was his lifemate. _My people can barely have children, therefore we cherish them more than you will ever understand._

_ The way you cherish women?_

She felt him pause. _I suppose that is true. We barely have any women, therefore we are going to be more protective toward them, in general._

Danica lay down, but kept one ear open for Lena as she pulled the covers up and around her shoulders. Her eyes closed. _What happened to my niece? I mean, can you tell? You seem pretty…powerful._

_ She has a small bit of a shield of her own. It is not the same as yours. Your shield seems to protrude outward, permeating a set amount of space. But her shield functions inwardly. She is able to protect her mind without effort. I cannot gain access to the deeper layers, her memories, without her being able to tell I am rifling through her mind. And that would be inherently rude, to push my way in, would it not? Only her lifemate may have effortless access to her mind._

_ And how do you know she even has a lifemate?_

There was another pause, at first. Finally he spoke again. _I know._

_Now you have __**got**__ to explain this!_

_ May I speak with you, person- to- person?_

_ Of course, you can. I mean you're doing it now, but do you mean you want to-_ She suddenly felt a presence entering her bedroom. Danica sat up and saw something akin to droplets of fog streaming in under her bedroom window. "Holy _c-rap_!" she exclaimed on a tiny whisper as she stared in awe at the solidifying droplets.

_Do not become alarmed._

Apart of her thrilled inwardly as he finished materializing right before her. "How did you-"

"It is another ability of my people," he said as he stayed chastely across the room from her. The feel of her, so close to him, caused him to burn from the inside. He refused to allow himself to touch her, not while he still felt this out of control with so many newfound emotions. But his eyes caressed her face and took in every tiny detail. The slight downturn of her beautiful lips, the unique shape of her nose that was perfect on her face and the delicate sweep of the slope of her forehead. He was already enraptured with the silver of her eyes and the look in them she already possessed for him though she had yet to realize it. No one had ever told him that it would be like this, feelings of this intensity, and so quickly, upon meeting his lifemate. And he was more than pleased with the woman in front of him.

"Why are you all the way over there?" she asked as if he were the most ridiculous person on the planet.

"I am attempting to make certain I do not touch you too soon."

She smiled. "Oh, so you're not so arrogant that you can't admit when you might be in some trouble?"

His lips found an enigmatic smile of their own. "I think you're the one in trouble, my love. That's if I decide not to stay on this side of the room while I have not yet shackled the part of me determined to blend our bodies as soon as possible."

She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. "You expect me to believe your self-control is that flimsy? Would you just get _over_ here? I never could stand talking across a room to someone. Feels like a job interview."

He inhaled and took in her unique scent on the air. It more than permeated the room. He detected slight smells of the child, but barely so. It appeared her niece almost never entered her aunt's bedroom which meant the girl respected her privacy. He knew they would be safe for the night if anything unplanned should happen. But despite his wishful thinking, he knew he would have to control himself.

Crossing the room cautiously, he pulled up a waiting chair, sat next to her bed. Allowing only his knees to touch the bed, he was grateful just to be able to be in her presence after waiting for so long. His eyes looked down into hers, simply allowed himself to live and be in the moment with her as his intense emotions simply settled into a simmering burn. To be here with her this way tonight, it would have to be enough for now.

She lay down again, that time on her side as she faced him, looked up into his beautiful features. She really tried her best not to shift her hips invitingly as she lay there. Oh, a man shouldn't be that gorgeous, ever! And the feelings he seemed to generate in her, just by being present! She forced herself back to the question she had asked him before. She told herself it was time to get her mind off of her libido and onto a parental subject matter. "So? How do you know Lena even has a lifemate?" she whispered.

He smiled down at her. "Every once in a while, those who have our gifts have a gift particular to themselves. You have an innate shield, a unique thing most of us must learn to manufacture over time. But yours is natural. All of Lena's unique gifts are still undiscovered because she is so young. But I have had something akin to a curse since my own fledgling years."

She frowned. "A gift that turned into a curse?"

"Yes. Fortunately, it is once again my protected secret."

Her face softened as she adjusted her pillow and melted into it. "And you want to tell _me_?"

"Yes. I will tell you anything you wish to know about me. I give you access to my mind at all times. It is up to you to merge fully with me whenever you should wish it. Your choice."

Her heart was beginning to melt and she pulled the covers up and snuggled into the bed further. "I'll keep your secrets," she assured him as another part of herself acknowledged, he had the most beautiful voice she had ever heard. And looking into his eyes was the best sensation she had had in years.

He leaned forward ever so slightly, but only his eyes touched hers. He could feel every stray thought going through her about him. He was humbled and filled with joy because of them. "I believe you," he said on a whisper as he swallowed back a tendril of deep yearning and want. "Since my younger years I was able to look at one of our race and tell if they had a lifemate. I could tell if they were living, dead or yet to be born. And yet, when I glimpsed a mirror, I could not tell for myself."

She realized, "That must have been agony."

"Yes," he said as he looked at her and appreciated the empathy she held for him. "For a brief time I had a reputation. Hunters, craftsmen, artisans- all of the males of my race of differing professions sought me out. It became a burden I could no longer bear," he said as he shook his head.

"Do you know how many times I saw Hunters fighting the undead for so many years who came to me, weary of life and killing, wanting to know if they had a reason to continue their existence? In my younger days, I did not understand. I still possessed emotions and I did not know what bleakness awaited in later years. I knew _of_ it, but I did not know it firsthand. It was at that time that a Hunter came to me, wanting to know, and I knew instantly the moment I saw him. She had been born and died at but four years of age. I told him. At that age, it did not occur to me that I perhaps should not have done so. I didn't understand his immediate grief upon receipt of that news. He sought the dawn on the next rising."

She gasped.

He shook his head. "I should never have told him."

She was stabbed at the heart at his regret. "The very young truly don't know any better," she said to him earnestly. "He must have been old enough to realize not to ask a question he didn't really want the answer to."

His heart warmed at her generosity toward him. It took him the better part of a century to get over what had happened with that hunter so long ago. And by then his emotions had begun to disappear, little by little.

"Well what happened after that? I'm sure you've had other hunters come to you and knew their lifemates were dead."

He shook his head. "Only twice after that did I see Carpathian men with lifemates already dead. I had learned my lesson. I claimed the vision was cloudy and I could not tell. After that, weary of being sought out, I had a rumor deliberately circulated that I had lost my abilities. Word spread. And after a while, they stopped coming to me."

"What about the other men that you saw before that?"

"Most of them I was able to honestly tell that she was yet to be born. They walked away with hope and strength of purpose. But the best were the few I was able to tell, 'she lives, go and find her.' But those were all over four hundred years ago. Only a handful of men with living lifemates in all that time! And from Carpathian families that had secreted themselves in unknown locations from the times of the wars."

"So, my Lena?"

"She is the first female human that this has happened with. The moment I entered the home and realized you were my lifemate, I saw the child and immediately realized who hers was. I suspect this has only happened because I had direct contact with him."

Danica sat up quickly. "Well what do you know about him?"

Andriev smiled. "Ironically, he is one of the last men I informed that he had a lifemate not yet living."

Danica's eyes were huge. "You're not going to call and tell him you found her, are you?"

Andriev leaned over and placed his elbows on his knees which drew him closer to her, as he clasped his hands together and shook his head. "The child is too young. Not only is she not ready for that information, there is nothing she could do about it. As for him? It would be agony for him to know for a certainty and watch from afar, wait for her to mature properly. Even the wait of four years until she is 18 could send him over the edge. No, it is too soon. She cannot know and neither can he. When the time is right, I will go and find him. Or he will find her. I even think 18 years of age for her is too soon for one as old as he."

Her mind was bursting with possibilities and questions. "Can I ask you what you know about him? Is he a good man? What if she doesn't want to be with him? What then?"

Andriev smiled. "He is an ancient. He is one of the few Carpathians that was not born and raised in our homeland. At the time I spoke to him, he still had two parents living and one brother slightly younger than him by less than four centuries."

"_Slightly_ younger?" she said on a suppressed laugh.

"Yes, slightly," he said with a warm expression. "He is, for lack of a better expression, a Spaniard. And when she is old enough, we will venture to Spain. That is where he hunts. He keeps Spain, Portugal and France from being overrun by the undead, he and his brother and two of their cousins raised by his parents. But he is the eldest."

"What if he- what if he can't take his existence anymore? What if he's already turned or sought the dawn by now?"

He swallowed back regret. That Danica would so quickly understand that those were the risks of his world showed him how sharp and agile her mind truly was. "Lena will never know."

Dani found herself frowning. This felt wrong. "It just doesn't seem right, me not telling her, you know? This is more than just 'important'."

"But it is necessary. She is much too young, do you not agree?"

She agreed, "You're absolutely right. She _is_ too young."

"But you, my love, are not," he said as his eyes slowly surveyed the gift lying before him. "That such beauty would grace my life when I was at the edge of my existence, when I was so close to seeking the dawn," he whispered almost to himself as his gaze traveled up and down the length of her curves.

Danica felt his eyes practically penetrating the blanket covering her body and she wondered if he could actually see through it. The awareness that there was a big, handsome stranger in her room began to creep into her mind. And he didn't seem so strange anymore. Feelings and sensation spread through her body like wildfire, things she had never felt for another man. She wanted to invite him into her bed. She looked away from him as horror and embarrassment swamped her mind. "I don't know what just happened, but that isn't really me, I promise!"

He reached out one hand, gently turned her face back to look up at his. Dropping to his knees next to her bed, the chair was pushed out of the way as his mouth found hers, delicate yet insistent. Hungry, so very hungry he was as he slipped passionate kiss after kiss past her defenses. It was almost as if he couldn't stop himself, truly couldn't help it as his mouth opened to hers and the touch of their lips grew yet more insistent, their tongues beginning to quest for one another.

She found herself more than accepting this turn of events. A slight moan exited the back of her throat as she sat up into the kiss even more. She was about to put her arms up and pull him into her bed when he pulled back quickly and raked his hands through his very long hair. "I apologize," he could barely get out of his mouth. He felt the ritual words in his mind, almost on his lips and he pushed them back, refused to speak them just yet.

But the floodgates of something had been unleashed within her. "Thank you, all the same," she said as she shifted her hips dangerously as she sat up fully, very aware of her body in relation to his.

He pulled the chair up to the bed again but did not sit down in it. He got up off of his knees and stood fully, smiled down at her. "I will go back out on patrol," he said as he gave her one last look of true longing. "I will wait," he promised as his eyes held fast to hers. "I will wait until you know all you need to know of me, of my world and my ways. I will try my utmost to wait until you can accept me into your life or I can bring you over into mine. And I _can_ wait, because now I know you exist. And that adds something I did not have before. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

All she knew was she was ready to be his, at least physically. "I guess so."

He swallowed back his want, yet again. "Then you don't know. Either you and I will decide to live mortal lives or you will come into my world and endure the conversion process. Until you know what you wish to do, we will be at an impasse, my Danica." And he refused to touch her because he knew the next time he did, he would be unable to stop himself from taking her blood, from saying the words, from forcing her to take his and pull her into his world at least partially. He couldn't do that to her without her express permission. She was the sort that would be blisteringly angry at him if he did. And he suspected he would if he didn't keep his distance.

###

Danica found herself worse than restless after he had gone. But this time, it was restlessness of a different sort. Andriev did not come to her again after he had left. She knew that it was all just too much for the both of them to be in one another's presence and not touch. She didn't understand why, but she was beginning to accept him in her life. She wondered if it was because he seemed to be giving her a real choice in the matter. Would it have been different, she wondered, if he'd beat down her door and demanded she accede to his wishes?

She finally found herself falling asleep two hours before sunrise.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N - It's hard to get things done in the summertime since my son is out of school. Here's a short chapter. Beg for mercy for me that his sleep schedule will solidify better because that's the only time I get to write these days, is when he's sleeping, haha! I will try my best to update this again soon since I have so much planned for this story and these characters and my brain is screaming to get it all out there!_

_Once again, I make no money off of this...  
><em>

_J. Shane  
><em>

* * *

><p>Rusti's heart sped up as anticipation rushed through her. "We're almost there."<p>

Darius knew his lifemate was excited and trying her best to hide it. Julian and his sister were in another car. The other couple assured them they would be there within a couple of hours after their arrival. They thought it best if Rusti had time to at least speak with her friend first without a large crowd in attendance.

"There's the house she described," exclaimed Tempest as she pointed at the home. "And that's the house number. Yes, that's it!" she confirmed.

"I shall enter first."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Darius."

"Come now, you are aware I shall never allow you to walk into danger willingly."

"I don't sense a vampire here, do you?" asked Rusti.

He scanned the area. "I do not. However that does not mean that there is no such danger." He did not speak of what he did sense. He sensed another hunter in the area. Perhaps it was the hunter sent by his elder brother, Gregori. And how close was that hunter to turning? Carpathian men did not share sight of their women willingly. He felt a light smack to his chest as she gave him a face full of annoyance. She had, once again, read what he was truly thinking.

Since she insisted on going with him, they both walked up to the house together, but Darius kept Tempest behind him for the time being. Before they could ring the bell or look for some kind of doorknocker, the door opened. And standing there in the door way was the very hunter he had sensed, but only in a muted way. For some reason, he could not fully detect him. Only because they shared the same mental pathway as all Carpathians could he sense him. He also suspected he could find him so well because he, at some point, had shared blood with Gregori. "I bid you welcome," said the hunter as he stood guard at the door. "You are Darius?"

"I am Darius," he said. "May I enquire of the female by the name of Danica-"

And Danica stepped out from behind the unknown hunter even as he attempted to hold her back. But she saw her friend standing just behind Darius. "Rusti!" she exclaimed as she pushed past Andriev and ran to her.

"Human females are troublesome," said the still unnamed hunter with a tiny hint of amusement in his expression. Darius did a double-take. Why was this man, an almost ancient so close to turning and with no lifemate, so close to genuinely smiling?

The two ladies embraced for a good long time, their peals of almost teenage sounding laughter in the air as they briefly reverted back to their high school days. "I've missed you so much," Danica said as she held her friend back to look at her face.

Tempest looked up at her tall friend. "It's just been too long!"

"Oh! Come inside," Danica said as she pulled her into her home.

As the door closed behind everyone, Tempest turned and pulled Darius forward, "This is Darius, my- my husband."

Danica smirked. "Are you sure that's _all_ he is to you?"

And she knew, then, Danica knew more than she thought she did. "What do you mean?" asked Tempest.

"Don't you call him by another name?" she asked with a grin that said 'I know a secret'.

Tempest's mouth dropped open and she looked back at Darius once then back at her friend.

"Don't worry," Dani finally said, "Andriev told me everything. I know Darius is your lifemate. Nice to meet you, Darius," she said to the fierce looking man. But he looked no more fierce than Andriev. And that told her that there was, most likely, more than fierceness in his nature, especially if Rusti was with him.

Darius gave her the customary courtly bow, but as he rose, he couldn't help but look at Andriev and wonder if he were out of his mind for telling her so much so quickly.

Tempest didn't miss a thing. She saw the protective stance of the hunter next to her friend, the way he took her wrist into his hand gently. He had somehow claimed Danica. "And your name?" she asked him, wanting to proceed with caution. More was going on here than she could guess at.

He also bowed low. "I am Andriev." A fleeting smile hit his face as he then turned to look down at the tall and almost delicate looking woman next to him. "And I have only just found my lifemate," he said with a hint of wonder in his voice.

Rusti's mouth dropped open as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "For real?" she said, in awe. "Are you both serious?"

"This was the assignment I was going to attend to before I sought the dawn," admitted Andriev as he looked down into Danica's eyes.

"I still hate it every time you say that," she responded.

Tempest asked, "So you two just met-"

"Yesterday," said Danica. "There's a lot to iron out, but right now Lena is my biggest concern."

"Where is the child?" asked Darius as he looked around behind them, trying to locate sight of the reason they had all come together.

"Upstairs in her room playing video games," said Danica with a grin. She was about to open her mouth to call for her, but Andriev stopped her with a hand to her lips.

"I will call her in our way," he said.

"No!" she said, horrified. "You'll scare her to death!"

"She will be fine," Andriev assured her.

"All right. A bet. You scare her, you wash and wax my car…shirtless," said Danica with a twinkle in her eye.

"And if I do not frighten the child?" he asked, with a certain twinkle in his eye, as well.

"You name the terms," she said.

He gave her a hot look that encompassed every area of her body. _You will give me what I wish to have more than anything else…_

She sucked in a breath of air involuntarily. "Men!" she exclaimed to a grinning Tempest who knew exactly what Andriev's price might be.

"Do you accept the terms?" he asked, his face serious, but they could detect the playfulness beneath the surface.

"Fine. You won't win anyway," she shrugged and then folded her arms. "Call her."

He tuned his mind to Lena's pathway and called her to them. _Your Rusti has arrived, child._

Lena's feet could be heard less than five seconds later bounding hurriedly down the hallway and then down the stairs. There was no look of fear on her face as she descended the stairs and met them, just pure excitement.

Tempest felt like crying. The little baby face of nine years before was gone. The face of a young woman had taken it's place. And a very pretty young woman she was turning out to be! "Rusti!" she exclaimed.

She grabbed the child to her in a hug. She was still pretty short and she knew the young lady would probably remain on the petite side for life. "It's so good to see you again!"

Lena pulled back and looked up at her. "You're different," said the girl with more understanding than she should have. "You feel like…" she looked at Andriev. "Like him."

"I _am_ different," she admitted, seeing no reason to lie to her. She turned and pulled Darius forward. "This is my-" she stopped, not knowing how much she knew, "Darius."

Lena put her hand forward. "Nice to meet you, sir."

But he bowed to her, instead, as if she were an important lady. "It is an honor to meet you, young woman."

She was taken aback. "Oh wow. You guys have, like, the best manners _ever_!"

"Why don't you two ladies speak with one another and catch up?" asked Andriev as he pointed between Tempest and Danica. "There is information from Lena I wish to share with Darius."

The two ladies didn't need to be told twice. They walked into the kitchen already talking with one another animatedly.

"Child, come, tell Darius of everything that has happened with you," said Andriev.

Lena followed them both into the living room and readied herself to give another retelling of the craziness that her life had become.

###

"So? You did it, didn't you?" whispered Danica.

"Did what?" Tempest asked.

"You know…converted."

"Exactly how much _did_ he tell you?" she asked, almost horrified.

She sighed tiredly. "Enough. He told me more than enough. At first I was scared to death, but…the more I think about it, the more I say to myself, how can I be upset with _him_ about this? He didn't choose this and neither did I."

"So what has he done so far?" she asked delicately.

"Well he hasn't taken anything…from me, you know? He promised he wouldn't without my permission. He hasn't said 'the words', either, whatever _they_ are. But he says he can't do that to me because then it would be painful to be apart from him and- and he doesn't want me to be in any unnecessary pain. He knows I'm worried about Lena, too, during the daytime, if I should convert. He's genuinely worried about her, too. It's like he's instantly attached to her, finds her hilarious and everything. It seems like they love children so much. I mean, that's the impression I get. Do they love children this much all of the time? All of them?"

"When you barely have any, yes, any child you get is a blessing," she said as she thought of Darius' wish for them to conceive a child.

"And I'm so confused, you know? I'm just glad you're here so I can ask you some questions and get some answers before I make up my mind."

"Anything you want to know, I'll tell you."

Danica sat down with her at the table. "I'd offer you something but- you don't eat anymore, do you? I mean, food? You don't eat…food anymore?"

She smiled sadly. "No, I don't. I can appear to. I mean, I can ingest it and push it out of my system later. But it is painful. And meat…the smell is disgusting to me now."

"Wow," she said as she thought about that. "I have to be honest. I don't think I can do this whole blood thing, Rusti. I'm not judging you or anything, but the thought is just…repulsive."

"You wouldn't be human anymore, Dani, remember that. It's not the same thing if you're not even human."

"So you just go out and hunt and-"

She laughed. "Oh, no no," she admitted. "I still can't do that. Darius gives me what I need."

Danica smirked at her. "I'm sure he does, in more way than one."

They burst into raucous laughter.

Both men looked concerned at the laughter coming from the kitchen just as Lena finished her tale. The child sat much closer to Andriev than she did to Darius, obviously already trusting him implicitly.

"I wonder what those two are talking about?" whispered Andriev.

Darius realized and asked in the Carpathian tongue, _"You have yet to bind her to you…"_

_ "I have not, not at this time. I have left the decision to her. I shall wait as long as necessary."_ And he looked over at the confused teenager listening to the language she didn't understand as he quickly switched back to English, "And we have this little one to look out for. I cannot leave her without adult protection."

"I can take care of myself," Lena assured them both with a quick nod. "I promise. I'll stay out of trouble."

"You do not even understand of what we speak," Andriev pointed out.

"No, but…but I can still take care of myself," she supplied with a quick nod. "I won't attract anymore vampires, okay? I'll be careful."

"Child," said Darius, "nothing you did drew him. Please, do not persist in those thoughts."

"I know," she admitted. "It's what I _am_ that drew him. He killed people here in the Bronx, right? So isn't that technically my fault? He wouldn't have come here if it wasn't for me, right?"

Andriev sighed at the girls thought process, of trying to take responsibility onto herself for the actions of a monster. "Think of him as a serial killer. The serial killer is drawn to certain victims, is he not?"

She nodded. "I guess."

"And the victims…it is not their fault, is it?"

"No," she said as if that were obvious.

"He is drawn to them because of his sickness. Nothing they have done can be blamed. If he would have sought applicable help ahead of time before killing, none of that would have ever happened."

She frowned. "So…I still don't understand why I get the feeling you could be like that and you aren't." She looked at Darius. "And you, too. And now Rusti is the same way… but different. I mean, you guys are mad dangerous, I can tell. If I had to walk down a dark alleyway I could pretty much guarantee I'd come out fine on the other side as long as you two were with me."

Andriev said, "There is much to tell, child. But at this point, you are much too young to carry that burden. Only know that your instinct is correct. We will protect you."

She swallowed back a tendril of fear. "I think you should tell me everything anyway. If I can know vampires exist and not wind up in Belleview Hospital, I think I can handle the whole story. And I damn sure already know not to go blabbing anything about the rest of y'all anyplace else. Even if he does scare the hell out of me," she said as she looked over at Darius and then inched even closer to Andriev.

Andriev held in his laughter as he reminded her, "A lady does not use such language."

She sighed tiredly. "Sorry again."

He couldn't help but to smile down at the teenager. And as he did, he saw the shadow of the Carpathian male that was her lifemate in her eyes. He blinked hard and then the face was gone.

"Are you okay?" asked Lena. "You looked like you were in lala land there for a minute."

"La-la-land?" he asked.

Darius watched, fascinated. That quickly the two females and this hunter had formed somewhat of a family unit. The child already trusted that the hunter would watch over her and protect her. "Does he not scare you, as well, young Lena?" he asked. The hunter outweighed him by nearly fifty pounds, his shoulders seeming to take up the doorway when he'd answered it that evening.

"Uncle Andriev?" she asked. "Why would he?"

He wondered if it was the fact that she was related to his lifemate by blood that erased her fear of Andriev. But she did not hold that same regard for him. He was very eager to communicate this development to Gregori.


	7. Chapter 7

Lena was put into bed that evening by Rusti. "You know, I'm kind of too old for this," she smiled as Rusti tucked her in.

"I know. But I missed seeing you for a long time," said the redhead as she sat on the side of the teenager's bed.

Looking hesitant at first, she finally said, "There are things that no one will tell me. Why won't they tell me?"

"Why are you asking_ me_, Lena?" she asked with a small smile.

"My aunt, she- she thinks I can't handle it. But I think I can. I know I can! I can tell that everyone in this house, except for me and her, are not human. I can tell you're not human anymore, either," she shrugged, "but I know and I'm okay with it. But she still won't talk to me about it."

Rusti sighed. "Remember the first time you met me and you spoke to me, just not with direct words?"

"Yes."

"Your aunt, she's not good with that. You were open about it because you were so young. I mean, you were practically still just a baby. You saw that we were the same and you were excited about it. It takes her a little bit longer to acknowledge that stuff because growing up she was the only one…until we met. So do her and yourself a favor. Don't get angry with her because she takes awhile to accept this stuff. Give her some time. She'll tell you. And if she won't tell you, maybe she'll give Andriev permission to tell you instead."

Lena shook her head, not satisfied, but ready to take Rusti's word for it. "Okay."

Rusti leaned forward and looked into the girl's eyes. "I need you to understand that when people keep secrets, they don't do it to hurt you on purpose. At least not most of the time they don't. They do it because they think they're doing what's right for you. They sometimes forget that-" she faltered in her words and sighed as she shrugged. "But always remember, we're all here to protect you," she reassured her. "There are lots of people now who will always want to protect you."

"People like you?" she fished.

"Lena," she warned with the shake of her finger.

"All right. Yes, I know."

Rusti saw that the teenager had another question. But she saw the smile the girl was barely holding in. "What is it?"

"Is it true?" she whispered. "Is Desari actually coming _here_? Danica said you travel with the band or something, that you're the mechanic? Is that true?"

The redhead grinned. "Yes, I'm the mechanic and I travel with them. You do know that my husband that you're so scared of is her older brother, right? He's head of security-"

Lena sat straight up in bed and did a full-on teenager fan scream! "Ahhhhhh! For REAL!? Her _brother_!"

"Keep it down!" said Rusti, but she couldn't stop herself from laughing at the girl's reaction. Her acute hearing picked up the sound Carpathian males rushing to a female's rescue. "You've done it now."

Both males, Andriev and Darius, came bursting through the doorway with preternatural speed. Lena looked patently embarrassed, but still excited. "Is it true?" her words rushed out at Darius as she jumped up and out of bed and grasped his arms, eyes wide with excitement, "Are you Desari's brother? Really actually her for real brother? The cameras never catch you fully! I've seen only half your face in a tabloid picture!" Lena edited out the thought of The National Enquirer's claims that the band was full of vampires. There was some truth to that claim, but like everything else lately, she saw the truth was hinged somewhere in the middle. She didn't care at that point. "Oh my goodness, am I actually going to get to meet her? I love her song _Just Be True_, **oh my God**!" she said as she jumped up and down. "And her song _Don't Say 'Never'_ helped me when my parents died! Oh my goodness, is she actually really coming here? Like to_ my_ house? Natalia is going to flip OUT!"

Andriev reminded her, "You are supposed to be in bed, young lady."

Without giving it a second thought, Lena jumped back into bed and began pulling the covers up around her but continued talking, "But is she really really coming here? Like for real?"

Darius' found his heart softening. This young girl who had been through so much was in a flurry of excitement over the visit of a celebrity. "Yes, my sister is coming here. She should be here tomorrow with-"

"Are you okay!" said Danica as she finally made it upstairs and through the door. "You guys are fast," she panted, only slightly out of breath from sprinting up the steps so quickly. She was grateful for her regular gym workouts.

"You didn't tell me that Desari was coming _here_! Actually HERE!" Lena said with still wide eyes.

"Ah, yes, the scream," Dani shook her head, hands on her hips. "Okay, I'm surprised you're still in bed after finding that out."

Rusti laughed. "Andriev made her get back in."

"Okay, okay, I'm good now," said Lena as she raised both hands and did an exaggerated exhaling sigh, visibly calming herself. She began lying backward. "I'm going to bed now, y'all."

"What happened to you?" asked Rusti.

"If I stay up too late, she takes a video game away for a week," whispered the teenager as she flicked her eyes quickly at her aunt whom was standing there with her arms now folded, a no-nonsense expression on her face. "I'm this close to beating this game and I can't have it taken away _now_."

The redhead laughed and leaned down, gave the girl a kiss on the forehead. "Sleep well."

"I will."

Everyone filed out of the room. "Should we close the door?" asked Rusti.

"No," Danica whispered as the men preceded them down the stairs. "She gets terrible nightmares. And I mean they're terrible. She wakes up in a cold sweat screaming sometimes. I used to sleep in her room on the floor and it made her feel better for awhile to know I was there. Then she kicked me out, said she was too old for me to be sleeping in her room."

"Teenagers," Rusti smiled. But she was sad that the girl was having such terrible nightmares. "You've done an amazing job with her," she whispered when they reached the very bottom of the stairs.

Dani looked over at the two men speaking with one another to make certain they couldn't overhear. She turned and looked back at her friend, tears threatening to slip free. "Rusti, I don't know what I'm doing with her. I never thought I'd have kids, you know, what with the way I feel about men…well, most men," she laughed as she gave Andriev a sideways glance. "And I've got a teenager now? She's a really good kid, but she's been through so much she didn't deserve to happen to her! And she just keeps on trucking and keeps on smiling and that's not because of me. My sister raised her that way. I woke up one day and I was a single parent and I have no idea what I'm doing! I don't know if I'm raising her right. If I'm too hard or too soft on her? I don't know," she admitted as tears finally rolled down her face.

Rusti saw Andriev approaching to comfort Danica. "You're one of the strongest people I know," said Rusti to Danica as she hugged the much taller woman. "Your sister started an excellent job with Lena and you'll complete an excellent job with her. I can already see it happening."

Andriev reached them both and removed the tall woman from the petite ladies grasp, pulled Danica so very close to him, enveloped her in his arms. "Your friend is correct. I have seen into you. You are made of the strongest materials. And you are making the child into the same. Do not underestimate who and what you are."

Rusti saw that Dani sank into Andriev's large arms. Her heart warmed to see a friend of hers so comforted by another, but she wondered if Dani would be able to choose sooner rather than later the path she needed to take.

She looked over at Darius and remembered how she had forced his hand in completing the conversion process. _Do not remind me of your defiance of me, my Tempest,_ came Darius' thought into her mind. She found herself giggling. He never appreciated her not listening to him.

_Too bad, tough guy!_

Dani was very tempted to stay there in the man's arms. Everything about him beckoned, welcomed her to remain exactly where she stood. But she knew there were things that needed to be discussed. She tried to disengage herself from Andriev's grasp. The furthest she got was removing herself from his arms, but he maintained a serious hold on one of her hands. She shook her head and said, "Let's talk about Lena. I need some answers about all of this while she's upstairs."

The adults took advantage of the fact that they were able to speak, unedited, for the first time that evening and gathered in her living room. Darius sat on the loveseat taking Rusti with him. Danica sat on the couch and Andriev sat next to her, still holding onto her hand. She tried to ignore the fact that he was positively huge next to her, and she was not a small woman as it was. Just having him there made her heart jump.

"What's going to happen now?" asked Danica of the two men, trying to distract herself from her feelings for the Carpathian sitting next to her. "I mean, once Julian gets here, what happens then?"

"We wait," said Darius. "It is inevitable. The vampire will return to the area in search of the child. And we will be waiting for him."

"Do you not think it would perhaps be better for us to find his lair?" asked Andriev. "First strike. He would not expect us to do so."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" asked Danica, openly worried.

"Yes, it would be," said Darius. "However, with three hunters we would stand a better chance of success. But there is one part to that scenario that I do not like."

Both men turned and looked at the women staring at them. "Oh, you have to be kidding me!" Rusti said with a shake of her head. "You're afraid of leaving the womenfolk alone?"

"It is a concern," said Darius.

"It is a legitimate concern," Andriev added with one agreeable nod of his head in Darius' direction.

"Oh, well, if stupid comes in doubles I see them right in my living room!" shouted Dani.

Rusti found herself laughing behind her hand. "They are infuriating, aren't they?" she said almost under her breath.

"If I affect you so," said Andriev to Danica, "then you must have deep feelings for me."

"Oh, the arrogance!" said Danica as she tried to get him to release her hand. He wouldn't. "It's like he glued it on, or something!" she nearly wailed as she continually tried to shake him loose.

He released her hand, but then pulled her close under his shoulder and held her there. "We are simply discussing the facts this night. Once Julian comes, the equation will change again. He may agree to stay behind and keep an eye on the family home."

"So then there's only two of you going up against a vampire that's what, how old? Nearly a master, you said?" Rusti shook her head. "No way, guys. Bad idea. Safety in numbers. If I don't know anything else about this combat thing, I know that."

"And what if during our search for him he leaves his place of rest and diverts here?" asked Darius.

"What about my shield?" asked Danica. "He hasn't been able to find Lena because of it. Andriev says it's a natural shield and nothing can be detected while I'm around. What about that?"

Darius looked at Andriev as if to say, 'why did you tell her the truth of her ability?' "I could not lie to my lifemate," shrugged Andriev at the unasked question.

Darius then pulled Rusti to sit under his shoulder as he put his arm around her and she rolled her eyes, but let him do so. "Your shield may yet be penetrable. We do not know this for a fact. It is a risk I would rather not take," Darius admitted.

"Why don't you put safeguards on the house?" asked Rusti.

"Safeguards?" asked Danica.

"It's kind of like spells," her friend clarified.

"So now you're engaging in _muo fa_? Witchcraft?" asked Danica, horrified.

_We subsist on blood and witchcraft is your main concern?_ Andriev laughed in her mind.

She turned and smacked at his big chest, but all she succeeded in doing was hurting her hand a little. She felt her blood begin to melt in her veins when he lifted her hand as he held intense eye-contact with her and slowly kissed it. What was that shiver going up her arms. She cleared her chest and shook off the effect. "Spells?" she asked, wondering if he was using some kind of wizardry on her at that moment.

"It is from our association with an ancient race that has since died out," he answered. "They taught us many secrets. And safeguards, warding is the word you might understand, is one of those secrets we use to protect ourselves and the ones we love."

Danica sat there and realized how far in over her head she was. She thought she could do this. She thought she could roll with this for Lena's sake. "I'm going to have to," she whispered to herself as she looked toward the stairway. That girl upstairs was worth whatever it took. But she looked over at Andriev and wondered what kind of life could she have with him without converting into one of his people? Why should she even have to do that? She looked over at Rusti and what she had become. She looked the same…almost. But she couldn't walk in daylight anymore or even eat food, this she knew. How was she going to take care of Lena that way in the daytime? It was all happening too fast.

She eased herself out of Andriev's grasp and stood. He understood that at that moment he needed to let her go and he let her stand up. She began pacing back and forth as she said aloud, "I'm her mom now. So you have to find this guy and take him out, okay? He can't be allowed to hurt her. Bad enough as it is she's having nightmares worse than before and- you have to take him out," she said as she looked back and forth between the men, tears in her eyes. "I don't like the thought of anyone dying, but if all he's going to do is try over and over to take her from me and do God knows what with her, he can't live anymore. This Julian, if he wants to stay with us and make you feel better about leaving us alone so you can focus, fine, do that. Do whatever it takes and do it soon."

Andriev did not like the thought of a male he did not know coming near her, even if he was another student of Gregori. At least this male here at the house was Gregori's younger brother. But he forced himself to concentrate on the moment. He would deal with whoever Julian was later. He could his Danica was truly aggrieved at the thought of someone being killed. "My love, this being condemned himself to this life the moment he fed for the power of the kill," he said as he stood and held her shoulders, forced her to look up into his eyes. "He is no longer truly living. His sole mission in life is to cause hurt, death and mayhem. He must be consigned to death before he inflicts more hurt upon the world than it already contains."

"How do you say that so easily?" she asked. "How do you kill so easily?"

"Because I _am_ darkness," he admitted. "You are now the only thing keeping me from that path. That or-"

It felt like a spear in her side. "Don't say that again," she begged, holding her hand to his mouth. "Don't talk about walking into the sun like it's nothing, all right? I don't know what I'm going to do about this, about us! I don't know what's happening here. I admit that I'm really confused. But I don't want you to think you have to do that anymore, okay?"

"You must understand the darkness in me, Danica," he insisted as he looked down into her lovely silver eyes. "I do not want you to be shocked at what you see when you finally decide to merge your mind with mine."

"How can you be all darkness?" she asked as she looked up at him not realizing the look of adoration she was giving him. "Look how you've been to Lena! She's not even yours and already you think about her first. I don't believe you're darkness. I just don't. You've had it rough, that's all. It will make anyone turn kind of hard." She turned and looked over at Darius and then back at Andriev. "How long do your brothers still out there have to do this? Running around, saving the world, nothing for themselves, not even a 'thank you'? Because no one even knows. Waiting years and years to find that one person." She shook her head. "No wonder you turn dark. Who wouldn't under those circumstances? What kind of life is that for anyone? It isn't fair. None of you should ever have had to do it. But you two, you did it. And you survived." She wiped her tears. "If you can do it, then I can endure the uncertainty and the fear for now until I figure out what I'm going to do. So I'll stop complaining now. You do what you have to do and make sure you bring yourself back in one piece," she said as she looked up at Andriev. "No judging from me on darkness or light."

Rusti knew, then, her friend had already decided to convert and she just didn't realize it.

* * *

><p>AN - Next chapter is already mostly written! Thank you all for your patience.

J. Shane


	8. Chapter 8

The four adults had talked together until roughly 3 a.m. By then, Danica was exhausted.

Once she announced her intention to get into bed, her and Rusti joked about the antics of their teenage years as they walked up the stairs. When they got to her room, the two friends fell onto Dani's bed together as they continued to talk animatedly complete with girlish laughter, a snapshot out of their past. For a split second the strange feeling of nostalgia from the past overtook them both, but it was gone that quickly.

It was very much the present. For the moment, there was a lull in their girl talk. "What are they like?" whispered Danica out of nowhere.

Rusti put her arms behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. "By 'they' you mean?"

"The Carpathian people. What are they like?"

She turned and snuggled into her pillow as she looked at her friend from so many years ago. "They're proud. They were down for so long, but they know now they're not out. They have a new hope because of women like us that their race won't die out."

Dani turned and relaxed into her own pillow as she looked over at her friend. "See, that scares me a little."

"What part?" she asked.

She thought about her answer for a couple of seconds and then realized, "All of it."

She shook her head. "I was scared, too. But it was all about Darius, in the end. I couldn't take the thought of him letting himself get weaker and weaker, being not who he was from the day he was born. Dying. That's why I did what I did. I did it really for him. I'd do it again, too."

Dani nodded. "I understand. Every time Andriev mentions how he was ready to seek the dawn," she shuddered as uninvited tears began to flow. "This isn't natural," she shook her head as she quickly wiped her tears away. "I just met him and the thought of him dying rips me to pieces on the inside." She sighed tiredly and then yawned into her hand. "I'd do anything to prevent that now. And I don't even know why. I mean I know 'why', but I still don't fully understand. How does one wrap their head around all of this? It makes my head hurt every time I really think about it. And now Lena is bursting for information and I don't even know what to tell her or how to tell her all of this, about them and about—just everything."

"What do you think you're going to do about it?" asked Rusti. "She knows there's things she should know. She asked _me_ to tell her, but I knew it wasn't my place. So I asked her to please be patient with you until you were ready to say something."

It was nearly 3:30 but she felt temporarily awakened again having gotten somewhat of a second wind. "I'm telling you this because you're the best friend I've ever had," Dani swallowed. "And to top it off, you understand this situation from the inside, out. I know I'm keeping so many secrets from her and I feel awful about it! I just want her to be a normal kid for once, you know? Why should she have to go around with the weight of the world on her shoulders? She needs therapy, Rusti. I'm not kidding you. But if I tell her this stuff, she can't unload it to a regular therapist. They would commit her, talking about vampires and Carpathians and things like psychic abilities and safeguards! I already realize that that _cannot_ happen. I mean, what if the therapist actually _believed_ her? She would be putting you all in danger, right? The average person wouldn't exactly be very understanding about this situation. But she really needs some help and I don't know what to do about that."

Tempest remembered, "There's a woman among us. She was human once, too. Her name's MaryAnn. She's a therapist for survivors of abuse, but she's still a therapist."

Dani's expression crumpled as she admitted, "Oh God! That's another thing," she sobbed. "Someone did something to her in foster care. I didn't realize it until yesterday. But now I know for a fact and just for that alone she needs to talk to someone. She doesn't want to tell me and I don't want her to bottle it all up and keep it inside. After all this is over, do you think you could maybe get in touch with this MaryAnn to come and see her? Or better yet, I'll bring her to see MaryAnn if I have to, okay? I'm sure Andriev will understand."

There was a huge lump in Rusti's throat and she honestly felt like crying. "Someone did something to Lena?" she whispered.

Dani shook her head quickly as more tears spilled. "Someone- I don't know exactly who or what they did because she won't talk about it. But the poor thing was only 10 when it happened. She needs some help. The nightmares are terrible and I don't know what to do anymore! You see why I don't want to tell her anything? She can't take one more thing on her plate right now. If she were an adult she would have snapped by now. Once we find the vampire and kill him and some time goes by and she's had enough therapy, then I can tell her about all of this extra stuff, this stuff about Carpathians and…everything. But I don't want to tell her before that. She seems really strong, but sometimes enough is enough and I'm afraid she's going to have a breakdown."

Rusti barely held her tears in at the thought of the child she had known from such a young age being abused. "She's strong, Dani, you know that. And Andriev sure as heck won't mind making sure she gets to MaryAnn. That girl already has him wrapped around her little finger." She felt the need to warn her, "But don't let her tell him who it was."

"I already had that thought. They don't exactly seem like the type that would let an abuser live."

"Then you already know who and what you're dealing with."

"Maybe I can, I don't know, make some kind of deal with Andriev where the person winds up in custody and not dead."

Rusti gave her a wizened expression. "Good luck with _that_."

##

Danica awoke bright and early the next day.

She stood and looked out over her tiny backyard from the kitchen window. The sun was up but it still wasn't too late in the morning. It was barely 10:00. She wondered why she had awoken so early after having fallen asleep so late. Even as a child, Danica barely needed sleep. She was always the last one asleep in her house and the first one awake. She always thought it had something to do with the 'weirdness' she possessed. She didn't know.

She put coffee on to brew. She was in need of a caffeine pick-up. She could hear Lena above stairs, finally stirring.

Danica sighed tiredly as she thought of Andriev. The three Carpathians were down in her basement, sleeping. She put her elbows on the kitchen sink and rested her chin in her hands as she stood there, trapped in thought. The coffee began to drip. The warm aroma of it began to waft about the kitchen.

Standing there she could almost pretend that the warm, sunny day was all there was, and hot coffee was all she had to think about looking forward to. She could almost forget…

Andriev had warned her the night before right before she went upstairs with Rusti not to go down in the basement before sunset. At first she thought it was because they would Dracula out on her and drain her in some vampiric blood frenzy if she did. Seeing the image in her mind, he just laughed and assured her it was for her sake that she should stay away from the basement. He informed her that from the moment she laid eyes on them she would assume they were dead because of the way they appeared when they slept. It would put her into a panic because nothing she said or did would awaken them. As a result, there was no way they would jump her while they were sleeping. They wouldn't even be capable of moving. She knew Rusti still seemed like the same person on the inside, that she wouldn't lie to her. But what if that was a trait they had, they could make people trust them? What if…

She wondered how her life had come to this. She didn't know if she should see it as some wonderful dream to find a man like Andriev that she felt such an instant—like, infatuation, love?—for and who seemed to feel the same, maybe even more, in return. Or was it a nightmare? To contemplate changing her entire life just for some man, becoming something of the night unable to take the kiss of the sun?

She turned from her thoughts and set herself to making Lena some breakfast. Her niece would be downstairs any moment and she needed to concentrate on something else so the girl would literally not pick her brain. Though she realized the girl was always careful about doing things like that, she still knew that when a teenager got desperate they'd break pretty much any rule to know what was going on around them. She was going to have to find a way to get her to help sooner rather than later so she could tell her everything.

##

"What are you doing today?" asked Dani.

Lena shrugged. "Thought I'd play video games or something."

"Don't you want to go out somewhere?"

"Nah. School starts soon and I want to make sure I beat this game before then."

She knew her niece was still afraid to go out of doors without her and she couldn't fully blame her. "What if I take you someplace? What about the Bronx Zoo? Or do you want to drive up to White Plains and go shopping? Want to go to the movies?" she asked.

She laughed. "Aunt Dani, why are you trying to get me out of the house so badly? Or are you going to go on about summer vacation and how it's supposed to be 'a wonderful time of activity for a kid and'-"

"All right, now you're making fun of me," she smiled. "Here, eat this," she said as she put a bowl of brown sugar oatmeal with apples and raisins on the table.

Lena sat down and quickly dug into it, obviously very hungry. "Let's go shopping. I need school stuff anyway."

"You do, don't you? What do you need?"

"Natalia's mom dropped by the list of supplies we're going to need this year while you were out last week. I need everything on the list and I still need a backpack and some shoes."

"Want new jeans?"

"When do I _not_ want new jeans?" smiled the girl. "Um, can I get a cup of coffee?" she asked nonchalantly.

"No! I already told you coffee isn't good for you."

"Oh, come on, you get to drink it!" she complained.

"I'm an adult. And coffee stunts your growth."

"I'm like not even five feet," said the girl with a deadpan expression. "That ship has sailed. I am not getting any taller."

"Not true! You have until you're 16 to get another inch or two."

"Please?"

"Do you want me to go upstairs right now and take that video game off your dresser?"

Lena looked right down into her oatmeal and started eating again, trying not to laugh as she mumbled out of the side of her mouth to her aunt, "You's a gangster."

##

It was a fun day of shopping. They reached home an hour before sunset. Danica was in the middle of making dinner for the two of them when Andriev appeared out of nowhere and put his arms around her. He had, mercifully, warned her that he was behind her first and she found herself leaning back into his arms.

The day had been difficult; doable, but difficult. She had had the urge to go down and see him from early on and that was why she had dragged Lena out of the house with her to go shopping.

It felt right in his arms as he leaned forward and lightly kissed her neck. "Your day was uneventful?"

She laughed, "Oh, it was full of events!"

"Tell me of these events."

"Our Lena tried to get me to buy her one of those awful micro-miniskirts. She's short, but she's got killer legs and I said absolutely not."

"And you were correct. Young ladies should not dress in that manner."

"I don't have an objection to miniskirts on grown women, Andriev! I happen to like to wear one occasionally, though I have stopped wearing them since Lena came to live with me. Lead by example and all that."

"So had it not been for Lena, you would showcase yourself to the world?"

She knew he was attempting to make her angry, so she intentionally scandalized him as she feigned thinking about his question and then announced, "Yes," as if it were nothing.

He laughed out loud, something he almost never did and she looked surprised as she turned and studied his face. "You look good when you laugh," she commented.

"That is not the only time I happen to look good," he commented.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to need ocular surgery or something because I keep having to roll my eyes at your arrogance."

"It is not arrogant to admit to what one happens to be. I have seen it in your mind, you have referred to me repeatedly as perfect."

"Okay, so then repeat after me. 'I am arrogant and I need to learn modesty'."

He laughed out loud again. "You are a delight to my senses," he said as he quickly stole a kiss from her.

She smacked his arm lightly and then asked, "Where's Darius and Rusti?"

"Why do you insist on her calling her by a boy's name? Her true name is 'Tempest'."

"It's a nickname. Like mine is 'Dani'. That's a boy name, too."

"Yes, I had noticed that."

"Hmm… and you're trying to keep me from finding something out and that's why you never answered my question. Where are they?"

"They have gone to-" the word 'hunt' wouldn't exit his mouth, "—meet Desari and Julian and make it easier for them to get here to your home."

She had a feeling he was hiding something, but she just didn't have the energy to deal with it.

"You are fatigued," he said suddenly. "Is there some reason you must do this while standing?" he said as he gestured at the stove.

"If I don't want lumpy gravy I better stand and stir."

"Perhaps you should sit and stir," he said as he pulled up a chair for her.

She sat down in it in a huff, but then admitted to herself that she did feel better for being off of her feet. She was glad for her tall stature, otherwise she knew she might not be able to reach the stove while sitting.

He noticed he did not smell any meat products cooking. "You have made vegetarian food this evening?"

"Rusti told me how you guys feel about meat so I didn't cook it."

"And the child?"

"My sister didn't always give her meat, so she's used to not getting it several days a week."

He was warmed by the fact that she had done something simply to make those of his people comfortable in her home. "And what did you make for the child?"

"Pure vegetable stock gravy, cornbread vegetable stuffing mixed with tofu crumbles and I made her a homemade cranberry sauce. The cornbread stuffing recipe is from Lena's dad's mom. It's a weird combination, all that stuff, but it's this thing Lena likes to eat from time to time. I make myself carrot raisin salad, but she doesn't like it unless it has pineapples in it, too. I forgot to get them, so I guess she won't eat it tonight."

"I will go and purchase it when my companions return."

"Just so that girl can have pineapples?" she asked, incredulous.

"We must make her happy, must we not?" he asked as if it were a simple thing.

"Do not spoil that girl!" she warned. "There's nothing like a spoiled teenager."

"Spoiled teenagers become adults that elect to not leave home," he said.

She was the one laughing then. "Then you don't know anything about teenagers."

##

Danica hated to admit it, but as soon as Rusti and Darius returned, she was stuck to the spot unable to speak on sight of Desari. She was barely able to get any words out when the star and her husband entered the home. "It's an honor to finally meet you!" she found herself gushing. Rusti hid her grin as Andriev remained strategically placed between Danica and everyone else.

"This is my sister, Desari and her life mate, Julian," Darius introduced them.

Desari pushed Julian aside and walked right past Andriev. She hugged Danica warmly. "I am so very sorry about the things that have been visited upon your family. It is my honor to meet one so brave," she said graciously.

Any reservations Danica had about the sincerity of the Carpathians went out of the window as she felt Desari's goodness swallow her whole. Andriev had called the females the light to their darkness. But this Desari, she was light! She was almost goodness itself. It just oozed off of her in waves.

Lena walked down the stairs then. Everyone expected the screaming attack from before, but she was mysteriously silent as she whispered, "It's really you." Her eyes were locked onto the singer as if she thought she might vanish into thin air. All eyes were on the teenager, but she didn't notice. All she saw was Desari standing at the bottom of the stairs as she approached cautiously, still not believing her eyes.

Desari smiled as the girl descended the stairs. "I was just telling your aunt how much of an honor it is to meet such women with inherent bravery."

Lena found herself unsuccessfully holding back tears. "You helped me so much," she could barely get out as the star folded her into her welcoming embrace. "Your music helped me so much when my parents died and-"

Desari could feel the girl's emotions passing through her. The pull of grief and fear, the dark pit of desolation within her was extremely strong. This girl had been hiding her severe depression behind the wall of her smile for much too long. _You don't have to hide it anymore. I am here now to help you. And we will bring others who can help you._

Lena looked up at the star's watery eyes. "Do you promise?" she whispered as tears spilled down her face. "Because I don't think I can do this anymore," she finally admitted as her face broke and she fell into deeper sobs. _Please don't tell my Aunt Dani! She couldn't take it if she knew how I really feel. Please __**don't tell her**__!_

Desari was confused by the girl's ability to project her thoughts directly into her. She realized then, it was because they were physically touching. "Meet my life mate, Julian," she said to the child.

She turned as she wiped her tears away as she turned and saw Julian. She found herself saying, without thinking, "He looks like Uncle Andriev."

Neither Carpathian was exactly comfortable with the other just yet and they just held themselves back from gawking at her words. "Tell me more, child," Darius said with the hint of a grin in his words.

"They're both like-" Lena shrugged. "Pretty in the face in the same way. I don't know how to explain it. They- they like feel the same almost like they're related or something. Are you two related?"

The two hunters regarded one another closely. There was somewhat of a resemblance there. They were both rare blond male Carpathians and they were also both very obviously muscular, though Andriev was bigger physically.

"We'll look into that," Desari promised her. "Come and talk with me for now."

"I shall return shortly," Andriev said as he was about to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" asked Danica.

"Pineapples," he said. "The child is in need of pineapples. We cannot feed her without them."

Danica folded her arms as Lena grinned. "Can you get me a-"

"No!" Dani said. "No artificial sugar of any kind!" she said as she anticipated exactly what it was the girl wanted.

Andriev was surprised to feel a mental push past his defenses and Lena's stream of teenage thoughts were practically dumped into his head. _Snickersbar snickersbar SNICKERSBAR!_ He winked once at her with a fatherly grin and then disappeared out of doors.

"Did you just put your order in even though I told you not to?" Dani asked her suspiciously.

Lena stood there, big-eyed and all innocence. "Can I show Desari my room?" she said as she failed to answer the question.

Dani simply folded her arms. The girl, she decided, had been through enough. "Go ahead. But come back in ten minutes. You have to eat dinner."

"Yes, I will!" she said as she showed Desari up the stairs.

##

Later that evening after he had returned from the store, Julian Savage and Andriev Lupov simply stared at one another for a couple of seconds. "Who is your mother?" asked Julian.

"Anatola Sivasyana," Andriev found himself answering.

His eyebrows rose. "Sivasyana? Is she related to a Gimeski Sivasyan?"

"Gimeski? She had a first cousin by the name of Gimeski. She said he was lost to the Turks."

"And so he was. Gimeski Sivasyan was my mother's first cousin, as well."

The two simply stood there. "Wow," interrupted Dani, shocked. "You two really _are_ related?"

"It would appear so," said Julian. But just as he was about to relay the information back to Gregori, he realized Andriev was doing the exact same thing.

* * *

><p><em>AN - Sorry it took so long to update! Life has been hectic._


	9. Chapter 9

Lena was sent up to bed at the same time as the night before. This time, however, Desari and Rusti went with her. "Will you sing me a song?" asked the teenager as she settled into bed.

Rusti scooted up into the bed with her. She was amazed at how much Lena had grown and matured while still appearing so young and vulnerable. Whoever hurt her had to be found and brought to justice so they couldn't hurt anyone else. And this vampire that was still on the loose made her nervous. She hated the thought of Darius going after him, but she knew a hunter must do what a hunter had to do to make everyone else safe. She felt better that he would have other experienced hunters with him on the chase.

Desari settled on the other side of the teenager and smiled down at her. "Close your eyes," she said with a grin. "I just made a new song. You'll be the first to hear it. Do you want to?" she asked.

Lena's eyes opened for a second. "Me? Really? Yes, I want to be the first to hear it!" She closed her eyes again. "Okay, I'm ready," she announced.

Desari and Rusti looked at one another and suppressed their laughter at her enthusiasm. Desari thought of the words of the song she'd made just for those in pain from the past, especially the very young. It was a slow ballad of hope and promise. As she began to croon in a low voice, she saw the girl's body begin to relax. When it was done, she sang another song directly afterward, one designed to make certain the hearer suffered no nightmares. She sang a third song in an even lower tone and then sensed halfway through that the girl had fallen into a deep sleep. She finished the rest of the song anyway to make certain it had its full effect.

Rusti looked up and saw Danica and Andriev standing in the doorway. His arms were around her and she was crying silently. "Thank you so much," she whispered to Desari.

"My pleasure," Desari said as she gently pulled at one of Lena's long braids that curled into a spiral at the end.

"We'll stay with her," Rusti said.

Danica knew that the girl would be more than safe with both ladies in the room. She looked up at Andriev. "I am not needed downstairs with the others for at least one hour," he said. They had decided to do some preliminary tracking that night with one another just to learn each others' hunting styles.

"You're not going to go after him tonight, will you?"

"No," he promised. "We cannot do that until Darius and Julian know what we are up against."

She shook her head. "Okay."

"I wish for you to sleep well before I leave," he said as he led her to her own room.

"I see what you're trying to do," she said as she found herself grinning. "You don't want me to worry so you're trying to put me to sleep ahead of time."

"Will you?" he asked as they walked into her room.

"Will I what?" she asked as she saw that he'd closed the door and they were alone.

"Worry… while I am out with the others, you will worry for me?" he asked, a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

She smacked his huge chest as she snorted in laughter. "Whatever."

He caught her hand in his, pulled it up to his mouth, lightly licked at one of her fingers and then kissed her inner wrist gently. "That is a 'yes'," he smiled.

Had the temperature gone up in the house? How had they wound up alone like this? Did she really mind? She looked up into his eyes and felt herself falling into them. Danica stood close and let him draw her into his warmth and safety. She found herself putting her own arms up and around him, pulling him closer to her. She couldn't help it. She had to know… "Kiss me?" she whispered.

Andriev's heart leapt as he leaned forward quickly and let his mouth do what he had wanted since the first time he'd looked into her eyes. Their kiss quickly went from chaste to heated and dangerous within eight seconds. He pulled back abruptly to look at her, didn't understand what had happened to make her change her mind about being alone with him in her room like this. "If I do not stop now, Danica-" he warned.

"Who says I want you to stop?" she asked as she pulled his head back down to her level and kissed him harder. The taste and feel of him had a drugging effect on her mind. Time didn't exist, just the two of them. There were no problems and there was nothing that had to be done, no decisions that had to be made. It was all him.

He found himself backing her up into the wall and lifting her quickly, his body pinning hers to the hard surface. He felt his incisors lengthen and the instinct to bite her overwhelmed him, the ritual words were now beating in his mind. He turned his face from hers, knew she would be angry if he did either thing that instinct was pushing him to do.

She didn't understand how she knew, but she did. "You can make it so I don't remember, right?" she whispered.

"The whole thing?" he asked, wondering if she meant them being together for the first time.

"No!" she laughed. "Why would I want to forget that?" She shook her head as she turned his face back to look at her. Her eyes held his. "I mean the whole… blood thing. I don't want to remember that. Just that part."

"You mean an exchange?" he asked, mystified.

"Yeah."

"I wasn't going to do that with you, not tonight. I know you wouldn't want the changes that come with that."

"There's changes?" she asked, taken aback.

"We never got a chance to discuss it, but it would partially place you into my world in a way and you would be in an almost state of limbo after that, not able to truly eat human food again, not able to take the sun as well as you do now. You would still be able to, but you would need my constant assistance to choke down nourishment. You would have to make certain to wear heavy sunblock and sunglasses when you went out. That is all," he relayed with a light shrug.

"Oh, that's _all_?" she laughed as she pulled his face forward to kiss her again. "I'm not ready for that," she admitted.

"I would be satisfied to take from you and add nothing," he said as he continued to kiss her eagerly.

"There wouldn't be any changes to me?" she asked as she let the kissing grow heated again.

"No," he said as he traced light kisses down her neck. "We do not even have to share bodies this night. I can wait. I have found my will to be stronger than I supposed before we met. I assumed once I met my life mate, I would immediately-" his thoughts turned to what he really wanted to do with her, unintentionally transmitted it into her mind.

She pulled back from him quickly. "Whoa! You perv!" she giggled as she pulled his hair out of its braid. "I'd like to say I at least made out with you once very intensely before we get into any of _that_!" she laughed.

He lifted her in his arms more fully, carried her to her bed. "Your wish is my command," he said almost sacredly. "We will not go far this evening. And I will not add a thing to you innards that you do not wish, my love," he whispered as he lowered her to her bed. "We will simply—what was your wording? Make out intensely," he smiled down at her.

Andriev walked away from her less than twenty minutes later. He hadn't taken too much of her essence into himself, but it was enough that he was able to send her fast asleep without effort. She would not awaken dizzy or tired the next day, at least there was that. He had weaved a safeguard on her window so that nothing could enter.

As he walked away, he did not wish to leave her. He wanted to stay at her side. So long as she remained fully in her world and he in his, the time frame they had together each day would be miniscule. But he was determined to let her make up her own mind in every aspect of this.

He immediately walked to the room where Lena slept and looked in once. The girl was still fast asleep, both Desari and Rusti still on either side of her. "She is well?" he whispered to the two ladies. They both nodded.

He entered the room silently and quickly erected a safeguard on her window. He knew all three hunters would safeguard the entire house before they left. He was in the finishing stages of the safeguard when he felt Darius enter the room. His hands weaved the last intricate pattern and then he turned.

"I thank you," said Darius. "I have never seen such a pattern before," he admitted.

"It is one of my father's," he said proudly. He had not seen his father for such a very long time. "His mother was half Dragonseeker."

"Let us go," said Darius. "We must see what needs to be done before night progresses too much further." He looked over at Rusti. "Tempest, we leave now," he said as he leaned down and kissed her. He looked over at Desari, "Perhaps Julian will consent to remain here with you all."

"It may not be necessary," Andriev admitted on a whisper. "Danica's shield seems to be impenetrable. I do not understand where she got the ability, but she is perfection in the area of hiding others. And most especially, it is intriguing because she exudes it naturally. It is effortless and seems to be inherent in her nature. It the reason the vampire has not yet tracked the child."

"Yes, you're correct. According to what the child mentioned he seemed to track her when she was outside Danica's sphere of protection the evening she was returning from her dance studio," Darius nodded. "Come. Let us not discuss this here. We will talk downstairs with Julian- your cousin," he halfway smiled.

Rusti's eyebrows climbed. "He made a joke," she whispered at Desari.

The three men talked downstairs for a short time. They decided that Julian would patrol the area outside the home and stay as close to it as possible while they relayed all information back to him that they uncovered.

"You have not fed enough, this night," Darius could tell as he looked at Andriev. "You did not take enough from your woman. But that is understandable."

"She must take care of the child and cannot spend the day abed as I may wish her to when I am not around. And she is not yet ready for a full exchange. I will feed before we hunt," he said.

"Take what I offer freely," said Darius. "And this way we will have an instant link to one another."

They both exchanged just enough blood and then they went and fed from a rowdy gang of young men. Since they were simply being loud and slightly disruptive but had no bad motives, both men were gentle and implanted pleasant memories. There was one among them with a truly keen mind and good spirit. Andriev implanted within him the sense that he must do better in school in order to pursue higher education. Afterward, they went to the vampire's last known lair. Of course, he was not there.

Both hunters took to the sky and searched silently. Andriev scanned the North and East and Darius scanned the South and West.

"The west, there," said Darius, turning Andriev's attention to that area.

Andriev turned and scanned, saw the blank area that tried too much to conceal itself. "I sense it," he said.

"Let us shift and investigate," said Darius as he changed shape midair to a harmless pigeon.

Andriev followed suit as they both flew to and then skirted the outer region where they sensed the blank area of power. They realized, then, that it was not his lair, but that he was out on the hunt that evening.

_We cannot allow him to hunt another!_ Darius thought to Andriev.

_Agreed!_


	10. Chapter 10

Andriev appeared first. That was the tactic. He exposed himself to the vampire in order to distract him. "I see you have found new prey."

He had come upon the vampire about to feed from a small child and a woman he presumed was the child's mother. They resembled one another and the scent emanating from them both denoted they were close relatives of some kind. The boy could not have been more than five. Both of them were obviously in thrall, glassy-eyed and standing at attention, ready to be taken down into death.

"You will not interrupt this time!" the wreck of the vacant soul hissed nastily as he lifted his hand. A swarm of bats was summoned to his service and he aimed them at the head of the hunter that stood before him.

Andriev easily countered the swarm before they could reach him by summoning his own. They were owls. Though the amount of summoned bats outnumbered his owls, the presence of the natural predator of the bats was enough to cause the dark winged creatures to change direction and veer away from Andriev. All of this he did without taking his eyes off of the undead.

Andriev changed the octave of his voice, then. "You will give this up," the Carpathian hunter nearly whispered, full of natural charisma. "You have no need of their blood," he gestured at the woman and child. "They are much too small to fill your need. Do you not, instead, wish the blood of a strong hunter in your veins? It would sustain you for far much longer than they."

The vampire knew the voice being used on him, melodic, beautiful… it was artificial. He had used such tactics in his days of former glory. But it sounded terrible to him now. He covered his ears with his hands and let out a disgusting guttural growl. "Do not attempt to use your feeble trickery on me, youngster. I, too, patrolled these valleys at one time."

A new thing dawned on him. "You were here to protect these people, but instead you preyed upon them after the wait grew too long."

"The blood spilled here, tribe after tribe, the blood of slaves, the break from one nation to become another and the blood spilled _there_in—humans were nothing but cruel to one another and they still are. And I was to protect_ that_? Yours is a fool's errand. And the sooner you see that, the better!"

Andriev kept his eye on the victim the man had in his clutches at that moment. It was the woman. Of course, he would leave the child for last. This particular vampire seemed to enjoy victimizing children more than anything else and he would leave what he saw as the best for last. He and Darius communicated on their private pathway since they had exchanged blood. Since they were not communicating on the common Carpathian mental pathway, this decrepit vampire that had once been a proud hunter would be out of the loop.

The two hunters agreed on a path of attack and Andriev slowly crept forward and to the vampire's left. The vampire, for his part, remained with his back to a tree thinking this gave him better protection, to have his flank covered. "Hand the child over to me," the visible hunter requested.

"So you too are hungry, hunter?" asked the vampire with a nasty smile.

Andriev did not look him directly in the eye but instead trained his gaze on the teeth stained with old black blood. "Simply send the child to me. You are in no true need of him."

The vampire sensed the 'push' in Andriev's words and said angrily, "You will not trick me with such base tactics, hunter. I shall have their blood and yours!" he declared as he put the woman aside from him and advanced forward on Andriev.

Darius was ancient and as a result very effective in all that he did. He was able to send a compulsion to both the woman and child to now walk his way silently just behind the tree since the vampire was distracted by his attack on Andriev.

As the fight began between the hunter and the undead, Darius shifted into his true form and compelled the woman and child to sleep. He was able to deposit them safely in a hidden location not one mile away. He was able to construct a quick safeguard around them. It did not take up too much time, but he knew all of the time away from the fight brought Andriev closer to possibly being injured. That vampire, whoever he was, was very old. And the older they were, the harder it was to bring them down.

###

The vampire stepped toward him, his feet in an elaborate dance attempting to enthrall his new victim. "You were correct, hunter! Your blood will energize me for a long time to come," he taunted.

Andriev knew why the vampire was so confident. The younger Carpathian was, though nearly ancient, still relatively young when compared to the undead. "You may take it if you can bring me down," he taunted in return.

"I almost did, not too long ago," he hissed.

"If memory serves, I did as much damage to what is left of you than you did to me. In fact, I submit that if you were not so decrepit and falling apart you could have bested me last time. Do us both a favor and allow me to finally kill you. End this half existence where you do nothing but allow your parasitic ways to leach from the bodies of others."

The nasty grimace of a smile expanded on the vampire's face. He knew what this one was attempting to do. "I will not allow myself to become angry, hunter!" he spat at him.

"Is that so?" asked Andriev. He noticed the vampire was coming closer. But he stood still and simply watched, calculating his words carefully. He sighed as if he grew tired of the conversation. "You will stop in your tracks now. I know where the child you seek resides."

And at that, the vampire did stall though he claimed, "I do not know of what you speak."

Yet, Andriev noticed, he had stopped advancing on him. "She stands this high," he said as he lifted his hand. "Young psychic, telepath, whatever you may call it. Very talented. I met her."

And now the vampire truly was in the beginning stages of outraged anger. "What do you know of the girl?" he hissed.

"She's too young for you, that's for one, even if you weren't a disgusting wretch. She's too young for anyone. She is just that, a child."

"She will restore me to my former glory!" he nearly shouted.

"It is too late for you," Andriev said matter of factly. "The child is under my protection and you will not touch her."

"Respect your elders and tell of where she is!" the vampire demanded. "I will not be held from my lifemate!"

By this point, Andriev truly was tired of this conversation. He sighed. "Old One, she is not your lifemate. I have met him. And you are not him. Stop now or I shall summon him and _he _will deal with you. And he is much older than I am."

Recognition dawned then in the vampire's face. "So it is_ you_," he hissed. "The one from so long ago who supposedly could tell if a lifemate was living, dead or not yet in existence. What—_who_ can you see when you see me?" The decrepit wretch wished to know, not for the sake of whomever she might be, but solely for himself, to wash away the evil and rejoin the world of the Carpathians as he once was. He would force her to do so!

Andriev shook his head and used a slang expression he had picked up over the years. "I am sorry to inform you, but the shop is closed. I don't do that anymore."

The vampire howled in true anger and lunged for Andriev. His fingernails became razor sharp talons aiming for the hunter's neck. Just as he reached the area, his hands seemingly around the neck of the hunter, Andriev disappeared, turning into vapor.

The howl of anger and disgust grew longer and drawn out as his prey vanished. He paused where he was, sniffed the air, thought he caught the scent of something—

Darius appeared right before him then and stuck his hand through the vampire's chest, extracting his heart. The black blood burned his hand as he threw the heart far away from the vampire. Andriev then reappeared from the other side and pulled the head off of the now screaming vampire and threw it in the opposite direction of where his heart had been flung. The blood of the vampire was spurting from both open wounds, hitting the surrounding vegetation and damaging it terribly.

Already, the body that had flopped to the ground was crawling along headless, attempting to find it's heart.

Both hunters summoned thick clouds first and then lightning. Darius directed a sliver of energy at the still beating black heart and caused it to burst into flame and then vaporize. Andriev did the same with the vampire's head and body. They then both cleaned their hands in the heat and electrical energy of lightning since they had both come in contact with the blood of the vampire.

They both set a light controlled fire of the surrounding vegetation to make certain it was cleansed of the blood from the vampire and they made certain to also scorch the earth where the blood had touched. After searching the area and making certain every last trace of their fight was erased, they allowed the sky to open causing rain to come and finish washing the evidence away.

They both took to the sky then in the downpour, allowing the rain to finish cleaning them before they went to take care of the mother and child not too far away in their entranced sleep. Both men took the woman and child home to the location buried in her mind and made certain they removed any trace of where they had been. Darius briefly dissolved into energy and light and delved into their bodies to make certain to check both the woman and child. He wished to ensure the vampire had not touched them already. If he had, they would have to be cleansed of any spores left in their blood of his taint. But the vampire, apparently, had not had that chance to defile them. He rematerialized into his natural body. "They are clean," he said to Andriev.

They were done. Both hunters then took to the sky to return to Danica's home.

* * *

><p><em>AN - I'm attempting to really push more of this story out faster starting next week! I will post again most likely next week._


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N - Wee bit of a change from the official timeline of C.F.'s books. It is where my official AU takes over, lol. For those who have read the books, you might realize what it is. If you don't, cool. If you do, don't shout it out in the reviews just in case others haven't gotten that far yet._

* * *

><p>When Danica awoke that morning, she had already made up her mind about something apparently while she was sleeping. It was time to tell Lena what was happening around her.<p>

As she turned her head, she saw a note on her pillow.

La Mia Stella,

All is now well. The being that stalked Lena has had justice dispensed upon him. He is truly gone and shall never come for her.

We sleep, once again, in your basement. I shall see you at sunset this night and every night thereafter until you decide that what we currently have is certainly not enough.

Andriev Lupov

She found herself reading the letter over and over again. Her eyes widened with wonder as the words on the page began to disappear after less than five minutes. And then she found herself giggling like a schoolgirl. She put the paper into her nightstand and forced herself out of bed for the day.

After showering and getting dressed, she went to Lena's room. Of course the girl was up already playing video games. "Have you eaten yet?" she asked her.

"No."

"Are you hungry?"

The girl thought about it first. "No."

Danica shook her head. Her niece's appetite hadn't been doing so well lately. She walked further into her room. "Can we talk right now? I mean really talk?"

"Sure." She saved her game and then turned off the unit as her aunt sat down on her bed with her. "What's going on, Aunt Dani?"

"First of all, I wanted you to know that Andriev and Darius took care of the situation last night. It's over. It's done."

Her face morphed into one of relief. "Really? Like for real?" she almost whispered. "He's—He's gone?"

"Yes, sweetie, he's gone."

Lena just sat there and nodded as tears pooled in her eyes. She wiped them quickly and then looked over at her aunt. She obviously had something more to say.

Danica thought about Rusti's advice and pushed ahead. "I think you and I need to level with one another, all right?"

"All right."

"I want to make a deal with you right now, okay?"

"K."

"I'll tell you everything. The complete truth. I'll keep the stuff to myself that I don't think is age-appropriate, but otherwise I'm going to level with you about everything going on around you."

Her eyes opened wide. "For real?"

"For real."

"What's the catch?"

Danica smiled down at her niece. "You have to tell me one thing, just one, that you've been hiding from me. And the rest of it, you tell a therapist. I'll bring in someone who—Well that's her job, it's what she does. You tell her everything else. Just empty it all out and you'll feel much better. She doesn't get to tell me anything you tell her either. Not unless you want her to or you want me in the room when you speak to her. It's all up to you."

Lena sighed as she seemed to be mulling over the terms of the deal. "One thing?"

"One thing that you've kept to yourself. Tell the rest to the therapist."

"And you tell me everything in return?"

"So long as it's age-appropriate."

Lena nodded. "Okay. I'll tell you the one thing I've been wanting to tell you anyway for a long time. Natalia's in Puerto Rico now, so I wasn't too worried about her with all this vampire shi-"

"Lena!"

"Sorry. Anyhow, Natalia's like… well like _us_. You know what I mean? Like everybody in this house right now. She's different. She can do things. It's kind of why we wound up hanging out and stuff. And I was worried when I figured that that _thing_ was brought here because of me. I just didn't want her to come home and have him chasing her because, you know, she's different, too, you know?"

Danica had always suspected as much, but didn't let on that she did. "When does Natalia get home?"

"Tomorrow," she said, halfway excited. "I talked to her on the phone a few days ago. We can't wait to do a little school shopping together." She stood excitedly as if her arms were wings. "And now I can actually go _outside_! I'm free again!"

"Seems like you're not too interested in finding out what's going on around you," teased Danica, trying to suppress laughter.

Lena sat right back down on her bed. "Oh, I'm listening."

"What I tell you is not to be repeated. Not even to Natalia. Not until Andriev gives you permission to tell her. It's not your secret to repeat. If you let this slip to the wrong people, others can be targeted to die."

Lena looked seriously nervous. "It's like that?"

"It's like that."

She sighed. But it was obvious she really wanted to know what was going on around her. "I can keep it to myself."

###

After Dani was done, Lena just sat there and looked at her aunt, full of wonder. "Carpathians," she whispered. "Like the Carpathian Mountains. So Rusti _became_-" She sat there, paused, seemingly letting it all sink in. "And if they turn bad, they can become-" she nodded. "I see now. I understand why I thought Andriev could have been a vampire but wasn't."

Danica noticed the girl looked very serious, but not stressed out the way she had for the past couple of weeks. "Do you have any questions?"

Her eyes lit up. "So when do you and Andriev get married and stuff?"

"That's the question you come up with after I tell you all of that?" she asked, halfway exasperated.

"Well what do you expect?" Lena asked. "You walking around turning down dates left and right-"

"Lena!" she warned.

"No, for real! He's the first guy that doesn't seem scared off by the fact that you've got a kid and besides that, I don't know," she looked sensitive as she shrugged, her eyes growing a little teary. "I think he likes me. Like really likes me and wants to be around and take care of me, too, you know? That's important, right?"

"Yes, that's very important to me," she agreed.

Lena sighed. "I guess I just need to think about all of this. It's a lot of stuff."

She had to ask. "Does any of this scare you in any way?"

"No, actually, most of it doesn't. I mean, it's freaky and everything, but I guess it kind of makes sense that we're sharing the planet with more than just… us."

Danica envied the stretch-ability of the youthful mind. "Do you have any other questions? You said most of this doesn't scare you. That means something does. What part scares you?"

She looked decidedly nervous then. "Well that vampire thing called me his lifemate. So since you're Andriev's lifemate and Rusti is Darius' and Desari is Julian's- Does that mean that horrible thing really was my life-"

"Absolutely not," she said emphatically while shaking her head. "I asked Andriev about that and he has assured me it doesn't work that way."

"So they don't just do a Pokemon thing on you, that kind of situation?" she asked.

"Pokemon?"

"You know? 'I choose you Pikachu!' That kind of situation?" she clarified.

Danica quickly covered her mouth with her hand so she didn't laugh out loud. Her niece was being serious this time with her weird analogy and she didn't want to burst her bubble since she was actually not trying to be funny. "No, it doesn't quite work that way."

Lena grew very quiet then for a couple of seconds. "So somebody could possibly be walking around out there right now and he's _my_ lifemate? Like technically?" she asked almost carefully.

For once in her life Danica focused on blocking her thoughts from her niece. She wondered then if she should tell her about that. Or tell her half. Or tell her nothing at all. She decided to go halfway. "Yes, there could be." (Who knew? He could already be dead for all they knew… or worse yet, turned. She shuddered on the inside at that thought.)

Lena shook her head as her eyes began to water up. "That's just sad."

"Why is that sad?"

"I don't know why. It just is." As she sat there and thought about this theoretical person her chest began to ache. She felt a true deep hole of sadness as if from someplace else trying to swallow her whole. "That's just so _sad_."

"If it makes you sad, then don't you think about it," she said. "You've been through enough. Save that for later." One thing her niece did not need was another shred of guilt on her young mind about one more thing. "I want you to see this therapist and be a kid again, you understand? Just be a kid."

"I'll talk to her, Dani, I will," she assured her. "Can I go back to dance class now? It's been like two weeks. The teacher must be wondering what happened to me."

"Yes, you may," she said.

"I can go tomorrow night? Natalia and I can walk there together. She likes to watch my class and chill out until we're done."

"That's fine," she said, glad her niece was able to go out again.

###

As the sun began to set, Lena could feel Andriev in her mind. _How are you this evening, la mia stella?_

She smirked as she slipped a freshly prepared vegetable lasagna into the oven. _Fine. Why don't you just come upstairs now?_

He seemed temporarily distracted. _Why is the child outside?_

Danica shook her head at his overprotective nature. _Lena is outside in our fenced- in backyard. That's what kids do. They play outside. Or in this case, she's out there finally feeling free enough to be out there. I want to honestly thank you for doing that for her._

_ It is my duty. But in her case since she is now my child, it was a true necessity._

She shook her head. _You didn't answer my question. Why don't you just come upstairs?_

_ As you wish._

Danica had a feeling she had just opened a can of worms, but it was too late. Andriev himself walked in through the doorway of her kitchen dressed in some kind of expensive looking suit with a dozen red roses in his hands. Her mouth dropped open. He looked extraordinarily hot. But she really tried not to pay attention to how he was looking because if she did- "When did you get those?" she pointed to the beautiful roses.

He thought about telling her he'd picked up the seeds and compelled them to grow faster since the day before. He knew that perhaps that would be too much too soon. "Do not worry yourself over such small details. Simply place them in water."

She gave him the side-eye. "Did you just tell me in your precise English the equivalent of 'don't worry your pretty head about that'?"

He shrugged only halfway. "I don't understand your meaning. English is not my first language."

She knew he was playing at ignorance. He had probably been speaking English longer than she'd been alive, but she let it go for the time being. "I spoke to Lena earlier and told her… well I told her a lot. Mostly everything, actually."

He tensed slightly. "And she?"

"She took it well. I mean she said she needed to think about it since it was a lot to absorb, but she took it well. She took it a hell of a lot better than_ I_ did. As to the whole lifemate thing, she's on me like a cheap suit to find out when you and I are getting married."

"Is she?" he asked, more than pleased. He tried to have a neutral expression, but a bit of a smile slipped through anyway. "She is most intelligent, is she not?"

"Oh cut that out!" she said since she could sense what he was feeling. She looked him directly in the eye and merged her mind with his. _I can't say this out loud. I swear teenagers have super hearing or something. But she understands about lifemates fully now. I assured her the vampire was most certainly not hers. But since she understands now she figured out on her own that someone could be out there for her._

_ You did not tell her?_

_ No, I didn't. It's not right. Not right now. She's too young and she's been through too much. I didn't have it in me to put that on her. Not right now. Not until she's older and ready for that information._

_ I understand and I agree. We say nothing for now._

_ Agreed._ "Anyway, I decided, once she goes back to school you and I can figure this all out."

"And when is that?"

"Next week."

"That is fine," he shook his head. He looked around at the house. "This home is well made. A few renovations, some expansions and it could be suitable for the both of you."

She put her hand on her hip. "Why would you want to upgrade my house?"

"Unless you wish to move into one that I purchase? Though I do think it would be better for the child's stability if she remains where she is for the time being."

"For the time being?"

"I wish to put her into a better school. Would you not wish to know that during the daytime she is well cared for? I could hire a staff. Julian's brother has a family that-"

"Brother?"

"Yes, his twin-"

"There are two of those fine men walking around, looking the same?" she asked with a grin.

He did not like that one bit. "Danica."

She began to laugh as she prepared a salad to go with the lasagna. "Oh, I made him upset! Come on, think about it. You guys are all so fine, it's wrong to go and make _two_ of one of you. The poor ladies when they were growing up must have been in hysterics every time they walked through a neighborhood."

"Yes, they were," said Julian himself as he and Desari entered the kitchen. And the golden haired hunter was wearing a huge grin as he held his wife's hand.

Desari lightly slapped him on the chest with her free hand. "Cut that out. She's speaking in a hypothetical sense. It's so true! Anytime we see a good looking man and an exact duplicate a woman thinks 'watch out, world!'"

Both Lena and Desari were laughing pretty hard. Andriev gave his newfound cousin a 'look'. "Hey, it's not my fault the ladies think I'm ultra fine," Julian shrugged. "But for the record, I'm the better looking twin."

Desari rolled her eyes as Danica went over to Andriev and hugged his huge frame. "Think about it. You're so huge, you already _are_ two guys rolled into one. I think you're even bigger than him," she referred to his cousin.

Julian was no longer laughing as Desari laughed harder. "Oh, I can't!" the singer gasped. "My stomach aches from laughing so hard!"

Andriev felt much better then as he placed his arms around Danica in return and squeezed. "I must go outside and see to the child now." He headed toward the back door.

"She's fine!" Dani called after him as he walked out of the house. To her, the vampire was dead and Lena was now safe.

But Andriev knew that that one vampire wasn't all there was in the world. And now there was a child relying on him. For the first time in his life he began to understand the fright of being a father as sweat broke out on his back.

###

Later that evening, the men all went out hunting and the ladies relaxed around the house. Danica and Lena ate the vegetable lasagna and the salad, and Rusti and Desari sat with them at the table, talking.

"So, when did you say you two were getting married again?" Lena tried to casually ask her aunt.

"Nice try," Dani said as she shook her head.

"You know I had to try!" she smiled.

"Did you get a chance to talk to MaryAnn?" Dani asked Rusti, pointedly changing the subject.

Tempest nodded in return, "I did as soon as I got up this evening. I have a feeling her and Manolito are in a tug of war about this, but wherever there's a girl in need, she's going to be there. And he'll bring her himself, knowing him."

Desari sighed, "Ah yes, the De La Cruz brothers," she giggled.

"What about them?" asked Lena eagerly. "Are they cute?"

"Eat more food," said Danica as she plopped extra salad onto her plate.

The other ladies at the table laughed. "I heard Andriev saying he wants to expand on your house?" asked Desari

"Wow! You know, Gabriel's wife makes these stained glass windows with safeguards already built into them," said Rusti.

"Whose Gabriel?" asked Danica.

"Oh," said Rusti, "that's Darius and Desari's other brother."

"Other brother?" said Lena. "There's more scary guys walking around out there? Sorry, Rusti, your husband is a little bit scary."

"There's a lot of them," laughed Tempest. "There's Gregori, and there's the twins Gabriel and Lucian-"

"Another set of twins?" muttered Danica.

Lena asked, "They're_ all_ scary?"

"Most people think they are," said Rusti. "But think of them as giant puppies. They'd never harm you."

Desari laughed, "I just found out Carpathians used to scare their children by telling them if they didn't behave that Gregori the Healer would come for them!"

Tempest admitted, "Well Gregori's not so bad once you get to know him. Savannah brings out the best in him. But those ancient twins-"

"Jeez, another set of twins out there," Danica muttered again as she finished her salad.

"Keep being amazed and you'll wind up pregnant with a set!" Lena teased her aunt.

"No talking about pregnancy!" Danica said. "And no talking about men. Or boys. Or-"

Lena continued the list of rules in a rapid huff, "—no making out, no short skirts, no dresses with the back out. But isn't this all exciting? I mean, a whole new world, right under our noses all these years!"

Just then, Tempest sat up and seemed to be paying attention to something else. She turned to them, then. "I guess MaryAnn won her fight with Manolito. They'll both be here in a few days. I think by then Darius is going to want to put me into seclusion, but I can't let him."

"It's all about the baby!" joked Desari.

"What baby?" asked Danica.

"I'm kind of pregnant," said Tempest. "I just didn't want to say anything with everything that's going on-"

"Whoa!" Lena grinned. "I couldn't even tell!"

"I'm not showing yet," smiled Rusti. "But he's going to want to get me out of here like tomorrow I guess. It's about time we left you guys to put your life together."

Danica gave her friend a huge hug. "You could have told me!"

"I didn't think it was right to drop that bomb in there with everything you guys are going through. But now that the vampire's dead, I felt I could tell you."

That kind of made up her mind for Danica right then and there. She wanted to be there for the years to come for her friend after she gave birth, she wanted to step into their world fully at some point. But she knew it would take time for her to do so. And what was she going to do about Lena in the meantime? She felt very strange about leaving a teenager on her own during daylight hours. It just wasn't right. Her and Andriev needed to talk and hammer out how things were going to be. There was a lot of work to be done.


	12. Chapter 12

Lena was deposited into bed at the usual time. She fell asleep very quickly that night. Already, Danica saw a huge difference in her niece's demeanor. The girl seemed almost carefree, close to being happy. It wasn't that mask of playfulness she girl had learned to wear, either. It seemed sincere. She knew Lena still needed to talk to that counselor, but the urgency the girl used to feel when nightfall came was now gone.

"We shall be leaving tomorrow evening," Darius informed them as he stood in Danica's living room. "I speak for Tempest and myself, only, of course."

"If it's all right with you," Julian shrugged as he looked down at Desari, "I'd like to stay around the area for a little while with my cousin, get to know him and his new family."

Desari understood completely. "He's a newfound relative. With all of the brothers I only just met not too long ago I understand that, believe me! We can most certainly stick around as long as Dani wants us here. We won't be on the road this year anyway since we're taking a long break." She looked over at the beautiful tall woman. "Dani, whatever you say, we'll do. We don't want to impose. In fact we'll only come a few days a week."

Danica found herself smiling widely and then laughing. Julian didn't scare her the way that Darius did. He was quite charming in manner and in looks it was very obvious that he and her lifemate were related. "Heck yes, you guys can stick around. Maybe you can help Andriev with the house expansions. And I get to watch these two guys pester one another? That'd be wonderful!" she laughed along with Desari. She remembered, then, "Oh! We can order that special stained-glass window you mentioned from your brother's wife, Desari! But how much is all this going to cost?"

"So you have decided to definitely allow me to expand on this home?" Andriev grinned as he pulled Danica to him and put his large arm around her.

She melted into his warmth. "Yes, it's all for Lena. You're right, she needs to stay put in this house for stability's sake. We know the neighborhood already and that's that." Although she was concerned about what the neighbors would make of her suddenly showing up with this new guy, she knew the Bronx credo of 'mind your business' would win out in the end and no one would come snooping around.

Already Andriev's mind was spinning possibilities about the renovations. "The cost is unimportant," he waved off that concern.

"Are you serious?"

"I have accumulated a small amount of something in my time. I will put it into the expansion of this home."

She suspected he had accumulated more than 'a small amount', but left it alone for the time being. "Lena's going to have another fit," Danica shook her head. "She's going to be related to Desari from The Dark Troubador's after we get married!"

"Our family is just growing," Julian grinned as he looked over at Darius.

"Indeed it is," agreed Darius. He turned his serious attention onto the other Carpathian. "Andriev, know that if I am needed by you, if anything should happen with your child or with your lifemate, do not hesitate to call upon me. You were already a student of my brother, Gregori, I am certain he is more than willing to come to your aid at any point."

"We should get him to traipse through soon," said Julian.

Andriev shook his head. "I do not think my lifemate or our child could take that for the time being."

"Is he really that scary?" asked Danica.

"Oh, he grows on you," Rusti said with a nod.

Danica noticed she hadn't said 'no'.

###

Since it was their last night there, Rusti and Danica spent some time talking. Who knew when she would see her friend again?

Darius was like any other Carpathian male, but that overprotective streak would grow a mile wide once his wife began to show signs of her pregnancy. They all knew he would most likely secret her away someplace where no one knew where to find them until she gave birth.

"You've already made up your mind, haven't you?" asked Rusti as they sat outside in her back yard. The guys were on the other side of the yard talking with Desari.

"I don't know how we're going to make it work, but we'll figure it out, I guess, you know?" Danica admitted. "I can't just leave him to turn into one of those things." She shrugged and smiled. "Besides, he's easy to love. I mean he's arrogant as hell, but he hasn't been pushy about coming into my life, hasn't made me do anything against my will, gave full disclosure ahead of time and he actually wants to help raise Lena? I just appreciate all of that. He's so powerful, and I know he could have forced me and he didn't. That means so much to me."

"He's done better than most Carpathian males when them stumble across a human lifemate, then," Rusti sighed. "I ran away and Darius chased me down kind of hard. I can't fully blame him for that since my life _was_ in direct danger at the time and he kind of had to make sure I didn't get killed. But compared to the things I've heard- and I've heard some _stories_— a lot of them are just so cave-manish."

The two of them talked and laughed for a little bit longer and then Danica went inside. Andriev followed.

###

As much as he wanted to pounce on her and rip her clothes off, he knew they had to work out some fine details. "Did you wish to get married in the way of humans?"

She thought of the neighbors. Their situation was already weird as it was and she wanted to deflect as much attention away from that weirdness as possible by doing ordinary looking things. Like getting married. "I know we'd be married according to your ways. But I'm still human and yes, I'd like to have a formal ceremony. And since you'd be my husband on paper, you'd have an actual say in what happens with Lena in school if I wasn't available or something." For some reason she imagined him showing up for a parent-teacher night. She knew the ladies would be ogling him, but her mind was not fully fixated on that. She was trying not to laugh at the mental picture of him trying to fit his huge frame into a small desk and chair.

"When she returns to school," he said, "we will obtain a ring and the proper paperwork and permits to expand on this home. I will most likely begin with the basement and the foundation first. After we are married, and I will begin work on the rest of this home. After winter, I will expand the place upward and outward. Your neighbors next door, when did they move out?"

She sighed. "Like three months ago. I heard the bank is having a really hard time selling the house and the land. Hard times economically. That thing is worth a lot of money now and no one can pay for it."

"I will get on that tomorrow. Next year, we can take the space and merge it with ours, make a larger backyard for the child and a larger home."

She shook her head and felt a note of caution. "Now if we can just keep Lena hidden until she at least finishes college…"

###

Lena woke up and ate breakfast. Then she called Natalia. Her mother answered and let her know that the girl was asleep. Her plane had landed at something like 3 a.m. and she was still knocked out in bed. Her mother told her she was free to stop by anytime after 2 p.m.

When 2 o'clock rolled around, Danica couldn't help but laugh at the eagerness in Lena's expression. "Can I go around the corner to Natalia's house?"

"Go ahead. It's the end of summer. Tell her I'll take you girls up to New Rochelle to do some shopping tomorrow for school."

"Yes!" Lena fist-pumped and then high-tailed it out of the house.

Danica was able to get a lot of work done with no distractions in the house from 2 o'clock to sundown. She finally handed in the last of some work she had meant to give in over two days before. But now it was in and she knew she would have the money coming to her to cover the next month's expenses in full.

She stretched languidly and looked at the clock. She knew Lena should be walking over to dance class with Natalia by then. The sun was only just starting to set. There was still light in the sky.

Danica stood out on the dark streets. It felt so strange to be saying good-bye to her friend while her friend's famous sister-in-law and Andriev's cousin stayed behind.

The two ladies hugged for a good long time. "I'm going to miss you," Danica said as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Tell Lena to behave. I'll be sending her a gift," Rusti smiled.

"I will."

"Tell the young lady," said Darius, "that if she does not behave, my brother, Gregori will come and make certain she does."

Rusti smacked Darius in the arm. "I can't believe you're trying to use the boogeyman to scare that girl into behaving!"

He only halfway smiled down at Tempest as he felt an urgent need to get her away and to safety. "We shall go to one of our locations." He looked at Julian and Desari, "You know how to reach us if we are needed."

There was another round of hugs between the ladies and warrior handshakes and slight courtly bows between the men and last good-byes spoken. Darius got his lifemate into the car and the four stood out in the Bronx night that was beginning to cool off a little as the car drove away.

The four walked back to the house as Julian was saying, "There is a construction company that can begin work on your basement as soon as possible."

"That is true," said Andriev. "The work would be indoors, not out, for the most part."

"We won't be getting any snow until January," Danica agreed. "Maybe December at the earliest. But you've got a solid three and a half months to get some serious work done on the house to make the basement more livable." She had been feeling badly about them sleeping in her basement. It wasn't entirely bad, it was just drafty and not at all glamorous. The décor left much to be desired.

"It shall be quite livable in no time," Andriev promised. He had some serious plans for the underside of her house.

Julian and Desari looked at one another once. "We're going to take off for a couple of hours," said Julian.

Andriev knew why. He wished he could take Danica into the house and do exactly what this couple were about to go off and take care of. "We shall see you later," said Andriev.

"We'll come back tomorrow," promised Desari.

Andriev knew they needed to sleep in the earth since they had not done so for the past couple of days. He was feeling the call himself. He would have to bring some fresh soil into Danica's basement sometime this evening. "See you then!" she said cheerfully as the couple got into their car and drove off.

She turned and looked at him. "Just you and me for the next," she looked at her watch, "hour. Lena will be done with dance class in about forty-five minutes."

He put an arm around her as he noted one of her neighbors watching not too far away. "Then we shall go into your home and go over the details of the expansion of the house."

###

Half an hour later, the two paused in their negotiations. They had already worked out exactly what Andriev wanted to do to the basement. Danica, however, had specified exactly how she wanted her kitchen expanded as well as her living room.

She thought Andriev's plans to lengthen the side of the house and make both 'their' bedroom and Lena's larger upstairs to be very ambitious. What was even more ambitious, to her, was him wanting to add a third story to her home.

"Are you sure you have workmen that can do this?"

"Though we will be unable to expand the rest of the home until next year, at least the basement and perhaps even the kitchen can be finished before the first snowfall. All of the changes, overall, will take approximately two and one half years. And the cosmetic changes to the house can be done, of course, throughout the winter, the redecoration and paint changes, carpeting, tile, crown molding, new radiators, things of that nature."

She wondered what miracle he was about to pull out next when she looked at her watch. "Lena's done with class in fifteen minutes. Want to go and meet the girls?"

"Certainly," he said.

She had already briefly mentioned the situation of Natalia. "She's Lena's best friend. They started hanging out like crazy almost two years ago."

"And you say she is also psychic?"

"Lena didn't tell me exactly what she was, she just said she was different like us. She said she can do things. I don't know what those things are."

He sighed. "She must also be watched. We do not wish anything attracted to her that could harm her or her family. We must also worry about the secret society of vampire hunters that often targets Carpathians and vampires alike."

She paused in the opening of her hall closet. She was about to remove a jacket when she looked at him, deadpan. "What? Vampire hunters. Seriously?"

"Yes. The irony is often their actions and comings and goings are being determined by an actual vampire. They are simply unaware of this since the human mind can be manipulated quite easily by Carpathians and vampires. It is sad, however, when an innocent human winds up in their net."

"A human? Why would they hurt humans? They're supposed to be protecting humans from vampires."

"Sometimes it is because they have heard that a particular human is gifted in some way. Other times it could be something as innocent as a teenager wearing goth clothing and make-up."

"That's just sick," she said as she pulled her heavy jacket out of the closet.

"Yes, quite," he agreed. "The victim often does not live to tell of what happened. They are, many times, sadistic men who simply want to hurt and torture people, women in particular."

Danica felt a little sick to her stomach thinking about it as the hackles on the back of her neck stood up. "Let's get out of this house and go get the girls, okay?"

"At once."

* * *

><p><em>AN - There's only one chapter of this left. It has already been written and it's being edited as you're reading this, lol! Also, I have a one-shot short story to upload that takes place approximately three years after this story ends called 'Dark Promise'._


	13. Chapter 13

The two girls were on their way out of class when Lena spotted Danica and Andriev walking toward them. "Natalia, there's my aunt's boyfriend."

Natalia smiled, her hazel eyes widening, "Oh, he's _cute_! And _big_!"

They both laughed about that for a couple of seconds as the other girls from her class rushed past them to get into waiting cars or greet parents waiting for them outside the studio to go home. As they met up with the adults, Lena said, "Andriev, this is Natalia. Natalia, this is Uncle Andriev."

He quickly scanned the girl and was overwhelmed by two facts. The girl was already very powerful, but she was a born telekinetic. He had run into few humans who possessed that ability. By the look of her eyes it was possible, he knew, that this girl somewhere down the long line of her family possessed mage blood. But the second fact… once again, he looked at a human and realized who her lifemate was. And he was more than a little nervous. This girl's lifemate, unlike Lena's, had been brash and pushy in his youth before the numbing of his emotions. What would happen once he found this girl? Andriev prayed that Ragnar had not turned and if he hadn't, that he did not find her until she was well into her adult years. He was something of a force to be reckoned with. But he knew, so would this girl be, but not for at least another about five years.

"Nice to meet you!"Natalia said enthusiastically to the Carpathian. She then turned to Danica and gave her a huge hug, "I missed you so much while I was away!"

"I missed you, too, young lady. How was your visit to your family in Puerto Rico?"

She referred to her tan, "I finally got some sun." The three laughed at the old inside joke.

Danica looked over at Andriev before she turned and looked at both girls. "How about you two be my bridesmaids?"

**Two Months Later**

Danica didn't know how Andriev, Julian and the construction crew had pulled it off. But they claimed that they had. The basement was supposedly done. The workmen had finished not three days before, but Andriev would not allow her to set foot in it until it was truly decorated and all evidence of construction was gone.

As they walked toward the door in the hallway that led to the basement, Andriev held Danica's hand in his, a four carat diamond sparkling on her engagement ring finger. It had been given to her by him mostly so that the neighbors could see they were, in fact, official. She hadn't really cared about the ring, but she did care about the wedding coming up in December. He thought it hilarious and so like her that she wouldn't care about things like jewelry, but she still wanted her human wedding.

In addition to the work on the basement, he had been working overtime to implant memories in the neighbors surrounding them so that they had the impression he had been around for months longer than he actually had. He had also made certain to implant memories in them of him walking with Danica and Lena in the daytime.

The workmen had also been able to expand one small portion of the ground floor of Dani's house. It now possessed a master suite and bathroom for the housekeeper and new driver he was hiring. It was an older couple he had known for many years. Once, long ago, they had saved his life and kept his secret. Now, in their older years, since they had yearned for children of any kind and had not gotten them, they had jumped at the opportunity to keep an eye on Lena during the daytime. They knew, also, they would keep an eye on Natalia whenever she was at the property. He had sent word to Gregori about Lena's friend and the ancient healer had immediately dispatched a hunter to watch over her from afar at all times. Between Andriev, the continually visiting Julian and the new hunter, Talon, the neighborhood was well looked out for.

As they opened the new basement door and descended the newly built stairs, Danica was already impressed. The old stairs had been these rickety wooden things that threatened to fall apart if more than two people walked on them at the same time. Now they not only felt brand new and solid, but they were also covered with a very expensive tile. The walls of the basement itself, from what she could see, had also been changed from the ugly wood paneled material it had been covered in when she bought the home. It was now a textured earth looking substance. It was light tan and lent an air of open cheeriness to the place.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the full basement finally came into view. "It's bigger now," she remarked, amazed. The space had previously been a mere quarter of the space upstairs. Now, as far as she could tell, it was half the size of the space above them and it had new support pillars throughout its wide expanse.

The ceiling was a deep blue as well as the tiling on the floor. But the earthen looking walls remained light tan in color. It was a risky color choice, but it actually worked.

The basement itself looked like any ordinary family hang-out location. There was a couch and a large screen TV complete with an entertainment unit sitting down there. But from the bottom of the stairs, Danica looked off to the left and saw a door, then looked off to the right and saw there were two other doors, as well. "What's in there?" she asked with open wonderment as she pointed at the door to the left and looked up at Andriev's not so serious eyes.

"Let us go and see," he smiled.

They walked to the door off to the left and he allowed her to open the door. They entered a chamber that was dark. The air in there smelled of earth. When she looked up at the ceiling, she could see the luminescence of stars had been somehow added to the ceiling. Though artificial, she could see it was not of the cheap decorating variety. It appeared quite real. Given the look and smell of the chamber, she could see it was made to mimic the outdoors. "Oh wow," she whispered. There was even the slight feel of a breeze and she realized than subtle fans had been put into the walls somehow.

Andriev clicked on the light and the luminescence was gone. It looked like an ordinary room. It was not overly large, but there was enough space for eight Carpathians to go to ground there if necessary.

"But why does it smell like the earth?" she whispered.

He waved his hand and the illusion of the ground in front of them wavered and departed. It was pure Earth. "For healing and sleeping," he said simply.

She smiled at the cleverness of the room.

He turned out the light and the stars on the ceiling reappeared. They closed that door and were back in the main part of the basement, again. "It's nice and warm in here," she realized. It had previously been drafty and miserable.

"I did not wish Lena to be cold if she needed to come down here for some reason."

She was touched. She knew he could regulate his body temperature and soon she would also be able to, but they had already decided not to convert the girl. She was to remain human until she was old enough to decide for herself what she wanted to do.

They walked across the basement floor and went to the doors on the right of the basement. The door on the extreme right was opened by Danica. "Guest room," said Andriev as she poked her head in and turned on the light.

It was a small chamber that contained no windows and a king sized bed. There was a small bathroom attached to it, as well. It was done in muted colors of olive and tan. Already decorated, it looked to be very comfortable. "Is this for when we have visitors?" she laughed.

"Julian has said he and Desari have 'dibs' on this room."

Danica laughed out loud. The couple had left them nearly two weeks before for the time being. "Looks like Manolito and MaryAnn are going to beat them to it, though," she said since she knew that couple was due to arrive in less than two days. They had been delayed, but now at least they would have someplace to stay.

They turned out the light and closed the door on that chamber. They moved over to the other door. She did not expect what she found when she opened it.

Danica's mouth dropped open.

The room was twice as large as the other one. She walked inside and was greeted with colors of maroon, cream and gold. There was a king-sized four poster bed in the middle of the room. There were no windows here either. On the far left wall, Danica saw a huge walk-in closet to one side. After marveling at its size for a couple of seconds, she ran out of there and into an open door on the other side. A large master bath complete with an in-ground Jacuzzi tub greeted her.

She walked out of the bathroom and looked at Andriev still standing there. He was waiting for her to say something. Tears were in her eyes. "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

He was overjoyed to have made her happy as he laughed and lifted her into his arms, hugged her tight. "I wanted you to enjoy these gifts," he said when he finally put her down again and looked into her eyes.

"But how much did all of this cost?" she asked, her grey eyes openly worried.

"Do not worry. It was accumulated for you," he said as his hands traced through her thick long hair.

They had agreed she would be converted at the beginning of the New Year. But they had also agreed on one matter being taken care of immediately. She looked into his eyes and nodded. "Now. Do it now."

He was still not sure if this was the correct time. "Are you certain? There is no going back from this."

She could see into him, could see how hard he had been fighting the words. "We can be together at night at least for now. And since I work from home, I don't need to go out in the daytime that often anymore. I might as well get used to it ahead of time. Do it now."

"It shall be painful for you to wait for my rising each day until things are complete," he warned.

She shook her head, "I don't care. Do it now."

He swallowed back a wave of wonder at her absolute acceptance of him and his way of life. Standing closer to her, body to body, he took a deep breath and felt an instant sense of relief as the words came spilling out of him without effort. "I claim you as my life mate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my life mate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care."

They both felt a binding shift, like something mending them together, heart and soul as their hearts pumped like mad to the beat of the same drum. At first they simply stood there, breathless, watching one another, in awe of the sensations swimming between the two of them. As always, Andriev never wanted to push.

It was Danica who finally took a look over at the king sized bed and "Want to test it out?" she halfway teased.

He didn't need to answer with words. With joy in his heart, his mouth crashed down onto hers and he was practically dragging her to the new bed.

* * *

><p><em>AN - I thought it totally appropriate to end this on the same day I started it a year ago, lol! Leave reviews, of course, we writers are always begging for those reviews. Don't forget, a short story for Lena is coming called "Dark Promise". I will be uploading it next week on the 22nd. I'm writing it in a style I usually don't mess with, Pure Angst. That is all for now! You guys have been THE BEST in your support for me since I'd never written a 'dark' novel and had no idea if I could pull it off. Thank you so much for that._


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